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<title>𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒 by idayleri</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30110994">𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐍𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/idayleri/pseuds/idayleri'>idayleri</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍'𝐒 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐈𝐓 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, F/F, F/M, Gray Harry Potter, M/M, Mild Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Mild Weasley Bashing, Slytherin Harry Potter, Slytherin Politics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:27:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,415</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30110994</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/idayleri/pseuds/idayleri</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I am flame and I am fire, I am your destruction, decay and desire. I am your dream come true and your nightmare too. Slytherin's are not born as they are; they emerge from pain, are forged by ambition, then molded with cunning.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>No Pairings Until Fourth Year</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐄𝐍'𝐒 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐈𝐓 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2215764</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Madam Malkin's</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p></p><div class="userstuff module">
  <p>
    <strong>JULY 31, 1991</strong>
  </p>
  <p>Harry shuffled into Madam Malkin's quietly, startled slightly when a bell jingled to signal he was there. He wasn't exactly sure he was having the jolliest day of them all, even after finding out he was a wizard. Don't get him wrong, he was ecstatic when he found out. Everything that he could do, all of his <em>freakishness</em>, finally made some sense in his life. Appearing on the school roof, being able to move things with his mind; like unlocking the cupboard door when he got too hungry or got too stuffy to the point he thought he might faint, or talking to the garden snakes in Aunt Petunia's backyard.</p>
  <p>But he was...tired. His body hurt and was still bruised from the beating his Uncle Vernon had given him because of the letters. He was hurting everywhere, but he was dealing with it. After all, he'd soon be going to Hogwarts,a place for people<em> like</em> him, a place to <em>learn magic</em>. He'd maybe even make friends, and if he didn't, well, he'd already gone years without them.</p>
  <p>He was brought out of his thoughts when a  squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve came into his line of view.</p>
  <p>"Hello ma'am" Harry said softly, his body stiffening a bit. He was sure that she had seen his scar (it was pretty hard to hide to begin with) and he didn't want to have to shake her hand like he had to in the Leaky Cauldron, the thought made him almost want to vomit from nausea, but she only smiled again after her gaze came back to his face.</p>
  <p>“Hogwarts, dear?” she asked kindly. “Got the lot here — another young man being fitted up just now, in fact.” In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. </p>
  <p>There was a silence as Harry was getting his robes fitted. Harry, despite himself, couldn't help but glance at the boy again. He was pretty, which was a weird description for a boy, but he was. He had silky platinum blonde hair, and his face looked soft and trained. But the more Harry gazed at the boy, the more he saw wrong. His face was pale, yes, but it was too pale, almost ghostly. The shadows that lined the bottom of his eyes, while flattering at first, looked as if they were lines from a lack of sleep, and he stood very stiffly, as if every part of his body hurt.</p>
  <p>Harry was confused. The boy looked well off, obviously, from his clothes to how he held himself to how he looked, but. . .</p>
  <p>The boy's eyes snapped almost instantly to Harry's, and Harry bit his tongue to keep his expression calm. If he was correct in his thoughts, then showing surprise wouldn't be the best reaction at the moment.</p>
  <p>"What?" The boy snapped, though his voice was a bit hallow. Harry watched as a strand of his hair fell slightly over his left eye before he looked back at the boy. He looked at the boy's stormy blue eyes before asking quietly.</p>
  <p>“Hello,” said Harry, “Hogwarts, too?”</p>
  <p>“Yes,” said the boy, and ended there.</p>
  <p>Harry couldn't for the life of him figure out what else to say. He obviously wasn't a prodigy in friend making, but he was sure he was suppose to say something else.</p>
  <p>"Is that all you'll need, dear?" Madam Malkin asked as she moved behind him to get her last measurement. </p>
  <p>Harry thought of all the clothes he had. All the worn out, ugly, stretched out clothes of his cousin, Dudley. He was going to Hogwarts, and was in a new world, which obviously, would have a different style. He was sure he had enough money for new clothes.</p>
  <p>"Uh, yes. Could I get five pairs of casual wizarding robes please, and maybe three sets of formal wear? Then maybe two jackets for winter, and two pairs of shoes, formal and casual please." Harry said, reading out of the pamphlet Madam Malkin had handed him. He realized after a moment how she had been eyeing his oversized clothes, and her pleased look of approval at his order.</p>
  <p>"What colours will you want, dear." she said with a happy smile.</p>
  <p>Harry realized after a moment that the boy was eyeing him quietly from the corner of his eye. Harry turned his attention back to Madam Malkin. "I- What colours do you think would suit me?"</p>
  <p>He almost sighed in relief at the overjoyed squeak of glee that Madam Malkin gave him. She immediately began rambling off colours. "You would look magnificent in dark toned colors, figuring your hair and complexion, and then emerald green would just be lovely with your eyes!  If we needed a dash of colour you should go for some warm browns, oh! Maybe beige and black would suffice for the jackets. Perhaps even royal blue's would be beautiful on you, what do you think?" she asked, though she looked like she'd already made up her mind with or without his permission.</p>
  <p>Harry smiled unsurly. "Yes, that sounds lovely."</p>
  <p>Madam Malkin let out a small squeak of glee before she took off his fitting robe. Harry hissed a little when it came in contact with his still tender wounds, but played it off as picking some lent off his shoulder to dull the pain. He looked away from Madam Malkin's inquisitive eyes and gestured that he was fine, moving to look away. She was hesitant for a moment before she was convinced by his reassuring smile.</p>
  <p>He looked away once she was gone and found the boy from earlier staring at him with an unreadable expression. He had obviously seen his look of pain, so it was useless to try to play it off. Doing just that would probably make the boy even more convinced of what he saw.</p>
  <p>"What?" he snapped instead, copying the exact same tone the boy had used earlier.</p>
  <p>The boy's lip twitched slightly before it came back to a thin line. "Emerald green, are you aiming for Slytherin then?"</p>
  <p>Harry tried to control his expression, but his confusion must have sipped through his uncertain eyes.</p>
  <p>The boy stiffened slightly. "You are a muggleborn?"</p>
  <p>Harry knew this one term because of Hagrid, and shook his head. "My parents were wizards. . .but, they're dead." he then shrugged his shoulder's to make his blunt statement less heavy.</p>
  <p>"Apologies." the boy said, though he didn't seem to actually mean it. </p>
  <p>Harry only hummed in response. There was a silence for a moment before the boy spoke again.</p>
  <p>"There’s four of them" the boy said, and after glancing at Harry's confused look, he clarified, "the houses; you get sorted in based off your values, basically." Harry nodded along after a moment.</p>
  <p>"Hufflepuff, they value loyalty, fair play, hard work, honesty. Ravenclaws value creativity, intelligence, wit. Gryffindor, the house of the brave, noble, and chivalrous.” the boy rolled his eyes. “Based on what I know, they’re a bunch of impulsive, reckless fools. Not worth my time. And finally, Slytherin.” He shot Harry a sly grin that was almost lazy. “Slytherin’s the house of cunning, ambition, and resourcefulness." the boy finished explaining, then was thoughtful for a moment.</p>
  <p>"It’s where I’m hoping to go. Slytherin has a rep for turning out loads of Dark wizards, which I suppose is kind of true, but the other Houses all have their fair share. When you go to Flourish and Boltts, look for a book called Hogwarts : A History, it'll probably explain it better than I will. It's on our list as well, so I suppose you'll get it either way.” the boy stated quietly. </p>
  <p>Harry wanted to say that the boy's explanation was pretty easy and straight forward, but the boy was already getting off his stool. He looked out the window and had a small smile on his face before it fell again, then he looked at Harry.</p>
  <p>"Well, bye then." the boy said, but Harry turned around quickly, much to the annoyance of Madam Malkin.</p>
  <p>"Wait! I don't even know your name." Harry said, hoping he didn't sound as desperate as he felt. The boy, while he seemed like everything in the world belonged to him, wasn't really that bad of company. The boy glanced back at him over his shoulder and they held each other's gazes for a moment. The boy stared at Harry's scar for a while, something flashing in his eyes before he shrugged.</p>
  <p>"You'll probably be a Gryffindor." he stated, then walked out of the shop to meet a woman who Harry assumed was either his sister or his mother.</p>
  <p>Harry wanted to ask what that meant. Did he mean Harry wasn't worth his time? But he was stuck having his robes fitted, and would probably lose the boy before he got finished.</p>
  <p>"I need you to stand still dear." Madam Malkin stated, and Harry complied reluctantly.</p>
  <p>The boy had stated that he should read Hogwarts : A History. Maybe he would find some answers there. Now that he thought about it, he could read most of the books he bought once he was done with chores at Aunt Petunia's. It wouldn't hurt to be prepared when he went to Hogwarts, so why not.</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Alliance Express</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>PRESENT</strong>
</p><p>Harry's heart was hammering in his chest.</p><p>He had his trunk and his school robes in his pack, Hedwig in her cage in his left hand, and his holly wand in the flick-out holster on his right arm.  He’d stocked up on books from Flourish and Boltts that should get him through the school year and practiced the ward spells he fully planned to put up around his bed to keep the other boys in his dorm away. He’d finished a preliminary reading of all the first-year textbooks just a few days ago and planned to go back through the first chapter of each before any of his classes started.</p><p>He felt about as prepared as he could’ve hoped to be.</p><p>After the accident at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry had made sure to style his hair to cover the part of his forehead that had the scar. It was hard to hide, considering the fact that he had tried to will it to change or disappear ever since he was little but never could. He would have been fine if it was a small scar, but it was silvery and noticeable, and was usually compared to tree roots or crackling lightening every once in a while.</p><p>While it was hidden by his hair, Harry still didn't have that much trust in his disguise and went straight for the train after he went through the barrier. He was thankful that he had remembered to ask Hagrid how to get to the plat form before it had been too late. He didn't want his first day to his freedom to be spent in embarrassing ignorance. Harry slipped away in the chaos of parents and children bidding each other farewell, nodded to a boy he didn’t know, and boarded the train.</p><p>It was just as chaotic on the train as it had been off of it. He spent fifteen minutes figuring out the sitting arrangements before he made his conclusion of where to sit. Most people flocked either to the middle or the back of the train, and the front was pretty empty, maybe because it was closer to the whistle, but Harry was sure if he cast a <em>Muffliato</em> charm he might be able to endure it and have a peaceful train ride.</p><p>Harry moved quietly away from the noise with his trunk and Hedwig, who was sleeping soundly now that he had covered her cage. Harry spent a couple of minutes searching for the right compartment. Some he found locked, others he was glad he knocked before entering. </p><p>He settled for one farthest down the corridor, but before he opened the door, he heard a hiss of pain come from the compartment. Without thinking, Harry opened the compartment door to find a boy his age, dressed in casual but expensive wizarding wear. He had soft looking, dark brown loosely curled hair and if his face hadn't been bruised and bloody, he might have been handsome as well.</p><p>The boy hissed in pain again from his flinch after Harry opened the door.</p><p>Harry, used to healing himself after beatings, moved forward slightly, but after another grunt of pain from the boy, stopped his movement. The boy looked defiant, he didn't flinch like before, but jutted his chin as if he didn't care at all if Harry was here to beat him up more or not.</p><p>Harry closed the compartment door softly, and at the boy's stiff posture, explained himself. "Sorry, I- wasn't sure if you wanted the entire train to see you like this or not."</p><p>The boy stared at him for a moment but said nothing. Harry cursed his awkward mind at not being a better conversationalist. "My name's Harry, I can heal you if you'd like. I'm pretty good at it."</p><p>The boy stared at Harry for a moment, as if trying to read his mind. Harry's mind went a little faint before he shook his head, pushing whatever feeling he felt away from him. The boy's brow raised just slightly before he nodded slowly. </p><p>Harry sighed for a moment before he moved to stand in front of the sitting boy. He flicked his hand and his wand released from it's hold. The boy's eyes trailed the wand  as Harry said the first spell.</p><p>"<em>Episky</em>" Harry muttered as he moved his wand silently, and upon hearing the charm mentioned, the boy's stiff posture relaxed slightly.</p><p>Harry worked his way through most of the cuts and bruises he could see, occasionally asking the boy if he felt any pain, or if he missed something. The boy muttered responses tiredly, and after the boy closed his eyes and Harry was sure he was asleep, Harry worked his way through the spells without his wand. He was still awkward at spells with a wand.</p><p>Thirty minutes through the train ride, he finished healing the boy and was exhausted after from using so much magic. He wasn't sure whether to wake the boy up or not, but decided against it. He realized after a silent minute that he didn't know this boy's name either. </p><p>Harry shook his head as he sat down. "I really need to get better at this friend thing." he muttered before fell asleep from exhaustion.</p><p> </p><p>Harry woke up in what he felt like 3 minutes, but at how dark it had gotten out, Harry knew he had slept for longer. He rubbed at his eyes with a groan before he looked up. Harry found the boy from earlier who looked like he'd woken up hours before he Harry had and was reading a book with a cover he couldn't figure out. It looked like it was french.</p><p>"You're up." the boy said mildly, not glancing up from his book.</p><p>Harry nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I was-"</p><p>"That was a lot of magic." the boy cut Harry off, finally putting down the book to look at Harry.</p><p>"Was it?" Harry said awkwardly.</p><p>"It was." the boy responded. </p><p>Harry didn't respond at that, what exactly was he suppose to say? A beat of silence passed before Harry blurted out the next question on his lips.</p><p>"What happened to you?" Harry said in one breath, and bit his tongue from apologizing or taking back his question.</p><p>The boy's eyes darkened slightly as he looked at the compartment door. "The bloody Light side is what happened." he growled.</p><p>Harry didn't know what to make of this. He had researched about the war from the countless books he had bought from Flourish and Boltts. Mostly because he was searching for any information on his parents and also because he needed to know what exactly there was that was written about him. The Light side was the side that had fought against the Dark Lord, aka the man who had murdered his parents. They fought for justice and peace. So it was either this boy was lying to put the blame on them or there was more to the story that Harry wasn't aware of.</p><p>Another beat passed quietly before the boy put his had out. "Evander Rosier of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Rosier." The boy said the last part of his name awkwardly, as if expecting Harry to run the other way upon hearing it. Harry hated touching and being touched by people, but complied easily.</p><p>He tried to remember what he had read about in <em>Wizarding Society of the Ages. </em>The Rosier Family was one of the Sacred Thirty-Eight, meaning they were a pureblood family. In the last war, they had fought on the side of the Dark Lord and in the war before, had been a part of Grindelwald's Army. </p><p>"I'm- " Harry paused slightly, remembering the book he'd read on wizarding etiquette. He wanted to say his name was Harry, but that wasn't his full name, and in wizarding society, it was apparently rude to introduce yourself by a shortened version of your name instead of your true one. "Harrison Potter of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter." </p><p>The boy froze almost immediately. The were still shaking hands, and Harry felt when Rosier's hand stopped moving. Rosier moved his hand away, not rudely, but not in a friendly manner either. Harry and Rosier looked at each other for a moment before Rosier broke it off, muttering to himself and then shaking his head slightly. He looked back up at Harry, and Harry felt a bit bemused at the actions of the boy. Finally, the boy sighed, as if defeated.</p><p>"I owe you a life debt Potter, feel free to address me as Evan." </p><p>Harry felt a bit dizzy at the proclamation. There wasn't much he had read about debts, but he had a feeling they carried more meaning in the wizarding world than they did in the muggle one. He also knew that he couldn't refuse it, even if he wanted to.</p><p>He only nodded mutely before adding." Harry, then."</p><p>The boy was hesitant for a moment before nodding as well.</p><p>Harry scratched the back of his head nervously. "Exactly how many hours have I been asleep?"</p><p>Evan glanced at Harry again before responding, "A little over three hours," at Harry's panicked face, Evan waved a nonchalant hand as if dismissing the thought, "Don't worry, we have roughly six more hours before we reach Hogwarts." </p><p>Harry was now panicked for another reason. What was he supposed to talk about for six hours?! He was so used to running away and hiding from kids his own age that the whole concept of sitting and talking to one of them still felt foreign. But he was saved once when the compartment door opened to reveal the boy he had met at Madam Malkin. But this time, instead of exhausted, he looked livid.</p><p>"I heard about what happened." the boy practically seethed. Evan waved his arm in dismissal but looked slightly bewildered. </p><p>"I'm fine Draco-" Evan tried to say, but the boy, Draco, didn't let him continue.</p><p>"<em>Those bloody cowards!</em>" he turned his angry gaze to Evan, "I bloody <em>told you</em> never to go anywhere alone, you bloody idiot! You could've gotten badly hurt."</p><p>"I did." Evan said, then realized he had only dug a deeper hole for himself when Draco's expression darkened. "But Harry over here was a big help. I haven't felt this well in years."</p><p>Draco finally acknowledged Harry's presence. His eyes widened a fraction before his anger dissipated slowly. "Harry. . . Harrison Potter?"</p><p>Harry shifted slightly before nodding, giving Draco a small tilt of the lip. "Draconis Malfoy." Harry said in return, and received a small nod. After a moment's hesitation and multiple deep breaths, Draco closed the compartment doors and sat down next to Evan with a sour expression.</p><p>"You better watch what company you keep, Potter. 'Boy Who Lived associates with Death Eater Spawns on his Ride to Hogwarts' " Draco drawled, " 'Beacon of Light turned Bad by Baby Bigots.', 'Atrocious Mighty Lion falls into a Den of Snakes'-"</p><p>"Draco, stop." Evan stated quietly, and Draco only scoffed. "I'm only speaking the truth. Look at what they did to you, Evander. You're in no place to associate with the Light Side's prized pony."</p><p>Harry bristled at the taunt. He was no one's <em>prized pony</em>.</p><p>"I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions on who I associate with Malfoy." Harry said quietly, but his message was clear. He had heard Draco's implications of their Dark families, had acknowledged them, and decided to still associate with them. Even Evan gave a calculating gaze of appraisal. </p><p>Draco blinked for a moment before his lips tilted slightly, not quiet a smile, but close. "You'll get eaten alive Potter."</p><p>"Then you might as well start calling me Harry." Harry was quick to answer.</p><p>Draco's lips tilted again but he said nothing. After a shove from Evan, he rolled his eyes and glanced at Harry. "Draco, then."</p><p>They stayed in silence for a moment before they heard a voice call out "Draco, Evan, my darlings!"</p><p>Both boys gave each other an exasperated look, even though it was clouded with fondness. </p><p>"She found us." Draco sighed dramatically.</p><p>"She would've eventually." Evan stated with twitching lips of his own that were fighting off a smile.</p><p>"Who..." Harry asked, feeling a little out of sorts of the conversation.</p><p>"You'll see." Draco stated, but his sharp smile did nothing to calm Harry's nerves. </p><p>The door slammed open, making Harry jolt in surprise. Draco and Evan now looked just about ready to give up trying and laugh out loud. Harry looked at the girl at the compartment door, who had midnight black hair that was cut into a slick bob. She had a flattering dust of freckles that rested upon her olive skin, and amber eyes that danced with sadistic amusement. Far too well versed for an 11 year old girl.</p><p>The girl's smile halted for a moment when she found Harry in the compartment with Draco and Evan, but it only grew after their eyes met. </p><p>"Ah, Draco love, aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?" she said in a sickly sweet voice. It was obvious she was doing it to irk Draco, judging from Evan's smile.</p><p>"Do it yourself, you sadist." Draco spat out, but his words held no true bite.</p><p>Pansy put a hand to her heart. "You wound me, my promised. Evan, mend my broken heart." Draco bristled in annoyance as Evan cracked a small smile.</p><p>"Pansy Parkinson, meet the acclaimed savior of the wizarding world, vanquishing Dark Lord's since the nappy ages, Harrison Potter, of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter." Evan gestured, and Harry flushed at Draco's bark of laughter.</p><p>Pansy looked like she was seizing him up, and after a meeting her eyes, shrugged. Her smile came back to her face and she took the seat next to Harry, which Harry was grateful for. Pansy held out her hand, and Harry took her hand, remembering his reading on wizarding etiquette and brushed his lips slightly on her knuckles. Pansy looked ecstatic at the gesture as Evan and Draco gave eye rolls at each other directed towards Pansy's reaction.</p><p>"Will you look at that, a boy that isn't a complete dog." Pansy said, causing Harry to smile as Draco sputtered in bemusement and Evan rolled his eyes.</p><p>"I am heir to house Malfoy, I am no<em> dog</em>!" </p><p>"You're a trained one, Draco dearest, but still a dog." Pansy retorted, making Evan snort as he went back to reading his book.</p><p>"Evan-"</p><p>"As of the moment and until further notice, I am a pacifist." Evan said, continuing to read as Harry kept an amused smile.</p><p>"Harry dear, tell Malfoy that he's a dog." Pansy said, and Harry, wanting to get in on the joke, did just that.</p><p>"You're a dog Malfoy." </p><p>Both Pansy and Evan cackled as Draco bristled.</p><p>"I'd watch what you say, Potter, you're pretty vulnerable right now."</p><p>Harry only snorted.</p><p>"For that, Harry dear, you have earned the right to address me as Pansy." Pansy grinned at Harry and he inclined his head slightly.</p><p>"I'm honored."</p><p>The four first years bickered a bit more, and Harry couldn't help but feel as if he finally made friends. The subject of houses was continuously avoided, since it seemed as if everyone expected that the spell would be broken if they talked about it. After all, he was the son of the Gryffindor golden couple and the defeater of the Dark Lord, and his temporary friends were all bound for Slytherin.</p><p>Either way, it was fun to finally get the opportunity to talk and get along with children his own age.</p><p>The compartment door opened again after a few hours of Exploding Snap, Sweets and mild banter. Everyone looked up, blinking, to find a bushy-haired young witch standing stubbornly in the doorway.</p><p>“Excuse me,” the girl said, “has anyone seen a toad? Neville’s got out, I said I’d help him look—oh, is that the second year Potions textbook?” </p><p>"Yes..." Evan said mildly, looking between cold and bemused. </p><p>Pansy, on the other hand, looked absolutely horrified. "What kind of mother let you get outside of the house with that atrocious hair?!"</p><p>The girl bristled at the mention of her hair. "Do not insult my <em>mother</em>-"</p><p>Pansy didn't even pay attention to the girl's rant as she practically pulled her into the compartment and immediately began casting hairstyling charms on her hair.</p><p>"Don't worry, your hair is beautiful, it only needs some bloody <em>structure</em>." Pansy reassured, and the girl was practically shell shocked at how she had so easily gotten into the grasp of Pansy Parkinson.</p><p>The girl was later on introduced as Hermione Granger, a muggleborn. There was an awkward silence at that, but no one said anything of it. It was more like they expected <em>her</em> to speak something of it, but when she remained stubbornly 'oblivious', the conversation's flooded back slowly. Another witch named Sue Li who saw Pansy demonstrate a hairstyling charm on Hermione and stepped in to ask about it and somehow never left. Justin Finch-Fletchy, another muggleborn, heard the heated argument from outside the compartment on whether it would be possible to enchant a Muggle radio to work in Hogwarts and couldn't help but join in as well. Then Rolf Scamander, who was apparently also a celebrity of sorts because of his father, stayed in the compartment merely because no one gawked at him. The boy Hermione had been helping search for his toad, named Neville Longbottom, came into the compartment a while later, and while Draco refused to touch the toad, helped put a leash charm on it so Neville wouldn't lose it again. Draco basked in the praise for a while before Neville got distracted with Evan and the Herbology book that he was reading.  it turned out that Longbottom was quite the herbology prodigy thanks to his family apparently owning loads of greenhouses and a major chunk of the magical plant industry, and once he got over his nervousness he and Nott had quite a good conversation going. Most of it flew right over Harry’s head, but since Evan was happy to finally have someone who shared his specific interest in plants, Harry left it alone.</p><p>Harry was shocked that their conversations flowed so easily.</p><p>At any given time, at least two topics were being discussed, and while it spilled over into fairly heated arguing several times, no one got really angry. Evan seemed reluctantly interested with everyone, and like Harry, a little surprised that so many people conversed so easily.</p><p>At times arguments would spill over, in which Evan was somehow assigned as mediator. "Evan!" A specific group would call out the name of the bewildered boy who was reading his book, and he would shake his head as he flipped a page.</p><p>"Conflict." would be his only response.</p><p>Harry, Pansy and Draco, who knew the joke, would crack up each time, earning confused expressions from everyone else before conversation flowed again.</p><p>Draco and Evan were noticeably cool towards Granger at first. It didn’t do that she was rather a know-it-all, but Harry didn’t think she was trying to come off that way. Mostly she just seemed like an overachiever who was a bit desperate for friends. He’d seen kids like her in Muggle school and knew she probably hadn’t had many before. The smart ones always got picked on by people like Dudley’s gang. So while he found her chatter irritating, he was willing to put up with her, especially since she <em>was</em> actually intelligent. Plus it was informative to watch both boys deal with the presence of a Muggle-born. Draco never quite lost the vague disdain, but Evan was at least trying. And neither of them made any sneering comments.</p><p>In fact, Harry got so engrossed in their various conversations that he didn’t even notice the changing landscape until a brisk knock sounded and a tall redheaded boy—who Draco muttered as a 'Weasley'—stuck his head into the compartment. “We’ll be at Hogwarts soon,” he said. “Best be changing into your robes.” He paused, looking at wands lying across laps and textbooks open to where people had been arguing about their contents. “Budding Ravenclaws, I see,” he said with a grin.</p><p>Harry snorted—he couldn’t help it.</p><p>The prefect looked at him and recognition flashed, but thankfully, he didn’t comment. “See you all in school,” he said with a proud, if pinched, expression, and left.</p><p>When they finally arrived and began shuffling out of the compartment, Draco was muttering to himself.</p><p>"Conversing with muggleborns and <em>enjoying</em> it, what would father think of me now." he sounded sick.</p><p>Pansy rolled her eyes as she looped her hand in his. "Your <em>mum</em> would be proud." she said instead, making Draco give her a slight tilt of the lip in gratitude. Evan only shrugged, but had a thoughtful expression on his face.</p><p>Leaving his trunk behind left a nervous feeling in Harry’s stomach, since it contained almost everything he owned in the world, but the others went along with it without hesitation so he made himself expand it to full size and leave it on the rack next to Evan’s before he followed the others off the train.</p><p>“Firs’ years! Firs’ years this way!” a deep voice bellowed.</p><p>Harry and Evan both jumped a bit when a looming figure, far too large to be a natural man, lumbered through the steam from the train. Harry relaxed a bit when he realized it was Hagrid, and waved unsurly when his name got called. He liked Hagrid, but no matter how much he tried, Harry couldn’t help seeing Uncle Vernon when the big man walked by, and he shrank back a bit.</p><p>Draco eyed him, but didn’t comment. “I guess we’re supposed to follow him,” he said.</p><p>Harry chewed his lip and nodded.</p><p>The giant led them down to the edge of a lake, turned black by the lateness of the hour, where a small fleet of wooden boats waited. Harry, Evan, Draco, and Longbottom climbed into one; Pansy, Li, Scamander and, surprisingly, Hermione Granger were in the boat next to them. She chattered off, much to the amusement and annoyance of Sue Li. Li moved to whisper something in Granger's ear, and Harry would have thought it was a threat from how pale Granger became even with her brown complexion, but the innocent smile on Li's face put him off.</p><p>Some conversations from the train carried onto the boats, and children chattered about happily. Everyone stopped, though, when they curved around a slight peninsula and the castle came into view.</p><p>It was <em>beautiful</em>.</p><p>Harry’s eyes couldn’t drink it in fast enough. He realized he was leaning forward and made himself sit up straight, but he couldn’t contain his excitement, couldn’t contain his <em>hunger</em>. The school was big, and clearly old, with towers and battlements and windows glowing with golden light. Somehow intimidating and friendly at the same time. <em>You are welcome here</em>, it said, <em>but it will not automatically be easy.</em></p><p>And it practically hummed with magic.</p><p>Harry’s fists clenched. This was everything he’d been dreaming of, and more.</p><p>“Merlin,” Longbottom breathed.</p><p>Evan and Harry exchanged a glance. Draco was trying to hide it, and he’d never <em>verbalize</em> it, but he was just as awed as Longbottom and Harry.</p><p>Harry grinned at the other boy. Draco hesitated, and then tilted his lips as well. Evan shrugged with a mild smile of his own.</p><p>Harry Potter couldn't even believe it.</p><p>He was finally at <em>Hogwarts.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Lady Hogwarts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing Harry noticed when he stepped through the large doors of Hogwarts was the feeling of warmth that washed over him. </p><p>It wasn't like feeling the warm air of the heater when they Dursley's remembered to warm up the cupboard, it was almost like. . . a mother's warmth. It felt like magic. Harry's lips moved before he could even stop himself.</p><p>"<em>My Lady</em>. . .?" He asked, not exactly sure why he said it.</p><p>The feeling that came after was like a jolt of lightening. He felt magic, Hogwarts' magic, flooding and swirling and enveloping him. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that it felt. . .<em>pleased? Happy? Satisfied?</em></p><p>Both Evan and Draco snapped their heads to him.</p><p>"What did you just say?" Draco asked with with piercing eyes.</p><p>Harry gave him a questioning look and looked at Evan, who had a contemplative look as well. "What...?" Harry asked.</p><p>"You said 'My Lady'." Evan supplied, looking at Harry as if measuring him.</p><p>Harry felt it again, the magic of Hogwarts, rippling through him. It wanted him to remain silent. He still wasn't sure how he knew, but he did. He realized he had been quiet for too long when both boy's eyes narrowed.</p><p>"It's nothing." Harry said, a small smile playing on his lips. </p><p>He was sure he hadn't been convincing, but something in his expression must have told them to leave it alone. Evan and Draco glanced at each other for a moment, then looked away from Harry, though their alert postures told him that they were now paying acute attention to him.</p><p>He faintly heard Granger talking about how the ceiling was charmed and reading Hogwarts: A History. Li sighed in annoyance but had a small smile on her face. Pansy only shook her head in amusement at Granger before talking to Scamander about some plant based face mask. They only had to wait for a couple of minutes before the door swung open. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry’s first thought was that this was not someone to cross.</p><p>“The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall,” said Hagrid.</p><p>“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.”</p><p>She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys’ house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.</p><p>“Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.</p><p>“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."</p><p>“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.” </p><p>Harry unconsciously willed his hair to at least look messily presentable.</p><p>“I shall return when we are ready for you,” said Professor McGonagall. “Please wait quietly.”</p><p>She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.</p><p>“How exactly do they sort us into houses?” he heard Longbottom ask a red haired boy to his left.</p><p>“Some sort of test, I think. Fred said we had to fight a mountain troll, but I think he was joking.” the red haired boy stated, and Harry heard Evan scoff to his right. </p><p>"Idiot." Evan mumbled, though he made it look like he was reading the word from his book instead of directed at anyone in particular. Harry refrained from asking the same question himself.</p><p>Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air — several people behind him screamed.</p><p>Harry immediately backed away. '<em>What the —?</em>' he thought, before he caught sight of what had made the screams occur.</p><p>About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: “Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —”</p><p>“My dear Friar, haven’t we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he’s not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?”</p><p>A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.</p><p>Nobody answered.</p><p>“New students!” said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. “About to be Sorted, I suppose?”  </p><p>A few people nodded mutely.</p><p>“Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!” said the Friar. “My old house, you know.”</p><p>Harry was thoroughly unimpressed. Of course, he was surprised that <em>ghosts</em> actually existed, but it was quite obvious that this was some sort of tradition to scare the students, or maybe make them less nervous.</p><p>“Move along now,” said a sharp voice. “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.” Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite<br/>
wall.</p><p>“Now, form a line,” Professor McGonagall told the first years, “and follow me.” </p><p>They did as they were told, and soon enough, they were in the great hall, with four long lined tables and older students looking at them with small welcoming smiles. Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard’s hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn’t have let it in the house.</p><p><em>No,</em> Harry told himself, <em>you will </em>not<em> think about that woman.. You're free for now.</em></p><p>Harry noticed that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, so he stared at it too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:</p><p>
  <em>“Oh, you may not think I’m pretty,</em><br/>
<em> But don’t judge on what you see,</em><br/>
<em> I’ll eat myself if you can find</em><br/>
<em> A smarter hat than me. You can keep your bowlers black,<br/>
 Your top hats sleek and tall,<br/>
 For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat<br/>
 And I can cap them all.<br/>
 There’s nothing hidden in your head<br/>
 The Sorting Hat can’t see,<br/>
 So try me on and I will tell you<br/>
 Where you ought to be.<br/>
 You might belong in Gryffindor,<br/>
 Where dwell the brave at heart,<br/>
 Their daring, nerve, and chivalry<br/>
 Set Gryffindors apart;<br/>
 You might belong in Hufflepuff,<br/>
 Where they are just and loyal,<br/>
 Those patient Hufflepuffs are true<br/>
 And unafraid of toil;<br/>
 Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,<br/>
 if you’ve a ready mind,<br/>
 Where those of wit and learning,<br/>
 Will always find their kind;<br/>
 Or perhaps in Slytherin You’ll make your real friends,<br/>
 Those cunning folk use any means<br/>
 To achieve their ends.<br/>
 So put me on! Don’t be afraid!<br/>
 And don’t get in a flap!<br/>
 You’re in safe hands (though I have none)<br/>
 For I’m a Thinking Cap!”</em>
</p><p><em><br/>
</em>The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.</p><p>"What a horrid form of entertainment." Draco frowned, making Evan huff a small breath of laughter but say nothing. Harry smiled weakly. He knew Draco was only insulting the hat to get over his own bundle of nerves. Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.</p><p>“When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said.</p><p>“Abbott, Hannah!”</p><p>A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause —</p><p>“HUFFLEPUFF!” shouted the hat.</p><p>The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.</p><p>“Bones, Susan!”</p><p>“HUFFLEPUFF!” shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. </p><p>“Boot, Terry!”</p><p>“RAVENCLAW!”</p><p>The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.</p><p>“Brocklehurst, Mandy” went to Ravenclaw too, but “Brown, Lavender” became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron’s twin brothers catcalling.</p><p>“Bulstrode, Millicent” then became a Slytherin. </p><p>Harry was beginning to feel sick, but he'd never show it. He felt like throwing up, and his magic must have sent of that message, because what he assumed was Hogwarts magic enveloped him as if cocooning him into a hug. He quietly sighed in relief. He saw Evan and Draco share another look from the corner of his eye.</p><p>“Finch-Fletchley, Justin!”</p><p>“HUFFLEPUFF!”</p><p>Justin waved at where Harry stood with the rest of the first years he'd shared a compartment with. Li, Granger, Pansy, Scamander, Longbottom and him waved back, while Evan and Draco inclined their heads slightly, albeit Draco did it more reluctantly. Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide.</p><p>“Finnigan, Seamus,” the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.</p><p>“Granger, Hermione!” Granger almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. It spent a good few minutes on her head, and Granger had a determined look on her face through all of it, then,</p><p>“GRYFFINDOR!” shouted the hat. </p><p>Draco scoffed. "Of course." he muttered.</p><p>Evan shrugged, "She was quite brazen."</p><p>Pansy slapped them both on the shoulder. "We can train it out of her. I, on the other hand, though she was lovely, but yes, a bit uncultured."<br/>
<br/>
When Longbottom was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted,</p><p>“GRYFFINDOR,” Longbottom ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to “MacDougal, Morag.” </p><p>The ones who hadn't been sorted were quiet. "I did not expect that." Li stated with amusement and silently, Harry and the other's agreed with her.</p><p>When Draco was called, he winked at the group and swaggered forward, sitting on the stool for only a minute before the hat screamed, “SLYTHERIN!” </p><p>Draco's eyes flashed in annoyance for a moment, a small frown gracing his lips before he put up a smirk, walking to the Slytherin table. He was sure Pansy and Evan had seen it, because they both didn't meet his questioning eyes.</p><p>There weren’t many people left now. “Moon”… , “Nott”… , “Parkinson”… , then a pair of twin girls, “Patil” and “Patil”… , then “Perks, Sally-Anne”… , and then, at last —</p><p>“Potter, Harrison!”</p><p>As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.</p><p>“Potter, did she say?”</p><p>“<em>The</em> Harry Potter?”</p><p>"Does he have the scar?"</p><p>The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him, and he couldn't help but sport a small frown of his own at the attention. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat.</p><p>He waited.</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"> <em>"Well, well. The famed Harry Potter. How peculiar." </em> </span> <span class="s1">The scratchy, slow drawl of the Sorting Hat’s voice in his mind caused him to stiffen.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>"Hmm…strange. There’s ambition and…such a thirst for power, yes. Ah, wandless magic, at this age?"</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>"Are you going to tell?" </em>Harry thought his question.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The hat hummed in amusement. "<em>I'm afraid not, Mr Potter, unless you plan to be a danger to the school.</em> <em>Otherwise,</em> <em>the students probably wouldn’t so easily allow me into their minds. Never mind them. The Pureblood families would probably raise hell."</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was a moment of silence. Then Harry nodded, "<em>Alright then, Where- what house do I go to?</em>"</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em> <span class="s1">"Ah, yes…you certainly are clever. Perhaps you’d do well in Ravenclaw…you want knowledge, yes, but only to be prepared…my, do you have some fanciful ideas. . ."</span> </em>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Harry listened to the Sorting Hat in silence. He had known about the four Houses beforehand, of course. But he didn’t particularly care which one he was sorted into. He’d make do with whichever, and it wasn’t like wearing a different coloured tie could deter him from his goals.</span> All he needed was a place where he could be more than just the Boy Who Lived. He wanted a place he could use to escape from the Dursley's. Needed-</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>"Gryffindor is a definite no. You have bravery in spades, but only to those you deem fit or have earned your trust. If it would bring you even an ounce of danger, you wouldn’t raise a finger to help another. Well. . .I suppose that’s fair…you’ve only got one life after all. . ."</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>"The same could be said for Hufflepuff. You have unyielding loyalty for what you believe in, but the children around you will never treat you as an equal there. And unless they do, you’ll never see them as a friend. Ah. . .fame can be quite a burden, indeed. They won’t be able to earn your loyalty, so might as well save them the trouble. . ."</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">Harry thought back to Evan, Draco and Pansy on the train. He liked them enough, but the hat was right. He didn't like that everyone who heard his name treated him as some saint. Those three definitely hadn't, and he admired them for that, but he wasn't about to call them friends immediately just because they talked to him and acknowledged his company. He had enough instances of Dudley paying people to be his friend just to lure him into a trap.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>"Ravenclaw…"</em> The Sorting Hat continued musingly, its voice breaking through Harry’s stray thoughts<em>. "You undeniably have the cleverness for it, but your curiosity lies not in academics. A prodigy when you apply yourself. . .and only when you apply yourself. Hmm. . .that’d certainly be problematic."</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">Harry almost felt offended by the words, but they weren't exactly untrue. He knew he had a tendency of not applying himself. After all, getting better marks than Dudley had meant getting a beating, and he had spent his entire life not even taking tests because he'd somehow end up with a higher score than Dudley even if he didn't try. All the same, he had originally expected Ravenclaw to be where he'd end up, considering Hogwarts taught <em>magic</em>. And he was finally away from the Dursley's. He could be smart all he wanted.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>"Slytherin, now, that’d be quite fitting. Cunning, ambition, desire for greatness…you fit the criteria well. Their political games would most likely turn to bloodshed if you had the drive to rule, Rowena knows you’d be good at them. . ."</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A minute passed by in silence while the hat continued to ruminate. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The hat seemed at a loss, and Harry could almost imagine it having an apologetic smile on it's face. Harry's heart plummeted. Was he going to be sent home?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>"Ah, nothing like that, Mr Potter." </em>the hat reassured.<em> "I merely feel as if whichever house I place you in, I’ll owe the students an apology. Because there is a great path ahead of you, Harry Potter, I only hope it is the right one."</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Harry wasn't sure what exactly the Sorting Hat was talking about now. As of now, all he really cared about was furthering his powers and learning how to control his magic. And he was getting far too nervous to think of anything else.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"> <em>"</em> </span> <span class="s1"> <em>Very well, Mr Potter, better be…"</em> </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“SLYTHERIN!” The hat bellowed for the crowd to hear, its rim lifting to Harry’s brows and allowing him visage of the Great Hall. He blinked as the light suddenly assaulted his eyes, but as soon as he adjusted, he took in the near comical sight.</span>
</p><p>The hall was dead silent.</p><p>He stubbornly ignored the shock. Didn’t look at anyone or anything except the black-and-green blur of the Slytherin robes. He was halfway to his new House table before they got over their shock and started applauding. The rest of the school followed suit.</p><p>Mercifully, McGonagall moved on briskly to “Roper, Sophie!” just as Harry slid into a set next to Draco and across from Evan.</p><p>"Well <em>this</em> is a surprise." Pansy stated from across Harry. Her tone  was cool, but her amber eyes danced in amusement. Harry gave her a small confused smile.</p><p>“Parkinson, right?” he asked, playing along quite nicely from the small tilt of the lip that Draco supplied before it fell.</p><p>Harry was privately hoping not to be antagonized by anyone just yet. He knew exactly what a shock his sorting was. He was Harrison <em>bloody</em> Potter, the beacon of light, saviour of the wizarding world, defeater of the Dark Lord, in the house notorious for grooming Death Eaters. He sighed quietly when a blonde girl turned to him.</p><p>"I wonder, Harry, where exactly you've been all these years." she said, resting her cheek on her palm with cutting eyes in his direction.</p><p>“I lived with relatives until a month and a half ago,” Harry said coolly. “For… security reasons.”</p><p>“What relatives?” Parkinson said, clearly interested. Harry could already tell her sort; he’d known girls like her before, who collected gossip and rumors like they were prized gems and used what they knew to rule the social ladder. It’d be bad to get on her bad side, and he was glad that she at least favored him, albeit as a shiny new toy.</p><p>“My mother’s Muggle sister and her husband,” he said flatly. It was, as he’d predicted, rather like dropping a bomb on the table. <em>“Muggles?”</em> a boy on the far end of Evan's side of the table said, losing his studied disinterest. Harry recognized him breifly as Nott. The others had learned on the train already, but every other first year was visibly shocked.</p><p>The response was immediate.</p><p>"You what?"</p><p>"But you..."</p><p>"What do you mean <em> muggle ?" </em></p><p>"What!" The story soon traveled up the Slytherin table, and everyone turned to stare at Harry. </p><p>"What?" He asked coolly, as if he didn't think he'd stunned them all. "I didn't even<em> know </em> about the magical world until I got my letter... or more, until Hagrid showed up." Harry felt inordinately pleased with himself. </p><p>He'd just stunned the entirety of Slytherin house to silence.</p><p>“A Slytherin with a Muggle childhood. Harrison Potter, no less.” Nott sneered.</p><p>Harry glanced around his end of the table. Evan, Draco, and Pansy were all clearly waiting for him to handle this on their own. He could already tell Slytherin was the house of power plays and internal politics, meaning that he had to deal with this challenge or they’d all think of him as the weak one and probably shun him.</p><p>"Are you suggesting there is something wrong with our house?" Harry demanded, and Nott walked straight into the trap.</p><p>"No! Of course not."</p><p>"Ah, so you're saying there is something wrong with me then?" Nott spluttered and flailed for words.</p><p>“I did plenty of reading over the summer,” he said pleasantly. “Enough to know that it’s poor etiquette to antagonize the heir to an Ancient and Noble House on the first day of term. A lesson <em>some</em> of us could apparently stand to learn.”</p><p>Nott blushed bright red. “You think you’re so clever, Potter,” he snarled.</p><p>“No,” Harry said flatly. “Just right.”</p><p>He turned back to Draco, hoping no one could see how nervous he was, hoping that had been enough to at least keep him from turning into Nott's verbal punching bag. Pansy was watching him the way a cat does something that it had thought was a mouse but suddenly shows it has claws. Evan had a small smile on his face, but didn't look up from his book and Draco looked approving.</p><p>Two boys named Finnegan and Dean Thomas were sorted into Gryffindor, and with “Zabini, Bella” being placed in Slytherin, the Sorting finished.</p><p>Zabini took a seat in between Crabbe and Nott, on the opposite side of the table from Harry. She was slender and sported a cutting white smile and an expression that made it seem like she was perpetually laughing on the inside at a joke the rest of them were too ignorant to get. She also had hazel eyes that were almost golden on her dark skin. Even though she was only eleven, it was quite obvious she would grow up to be beautiful.</p><p>The first years around him remained awkwardly silent. Eventually Harry got sick of it and looked up.</p><p>"Hi, my name is Harrison Potter." He said, sticking his hand out for Zabini to shake. Zabini blinked at him for a long moment before taking his hand.</p><p>"Never heard of you. I'm Bella Zabini."</p><p>Harry grinned in relief, and the tension in the air broke. "Yes well, it's a relatively unknown name." Harry returned with a grateful smile. Bella inclined her head in response.</p><p>“Zabini,” Nott mused. “The Black Widow’s daughter?”</p><p>Zabini’s smile went from <em>cutting</em> to <em>lethal</em>. “On the chance that I am, Heir Nott, are you truly willing to anger me?”</p><p>Nott grumbled in response.</p><p>Harry raised his eyebrows at Draco, who mouthed <em>later</em> just as a tall man with a flowing silver robe and tastelessly purple robes stood up and gestured for silence. “Welcome!” he cried, beaming as if nothing could’ve made him happier than seeing all their faces. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!</p><p>“Thank you!”</p><p>He sat back down.</p><p>Harry stared at the high table, then turned back to his year mates. “Is he—a bit mad?”</p><p>“Bloody disaster of a headmaster, if you ask me,” Draco sighed.</p><p>"Then good thing no one did." Pansy bit out just for the fun of it, and Draco rolled his eyes as his eyes wandered silently across the sea of students with a calculating gaze.</p><p>“And yes,” Evan added. “He’s… off upstairs. Of course, he’s also one of the most powerful wizards alive today, arguably <em>the</em> most powerful, and rumor has it he’s the only person the Dark Lord ever feared.”</p><p>“And he’s a school headmaster?” Harry said in disbelief. “If I was that good a wizard, you can bet I’d be doing <em>anything</em> except—except hanging around this place <em>teaching.”</em></p><p>The others chuckled, and then the conversation was interrupted by the appearance of so much food Harry’s jaw slack.</p><p>“Tuck in, Potter,” Draco said with a smirk.</p><p>Conversation mostly died as they steadily ate their way through everything on the table, and them all the desserts when the main course disappeared. Nott seemed content to retreat to his own conversation with Greengrass, and Harry stuck with Evan, Draco, Pansy, and to some degree Zabini, who seemed content to stay quiet and aloof.</p><p>Harry felt a sudden jolt of pain that nearly tore his scar open frowned as he glanced up to the high table. His eyes first found Hagrid. He had been so cheery and nice to Harry in the boats, but Harry had seen the look of distrust when his eyes passed over Harry now. He also saw a short man in a turban who had been intently staring at Harry, but now that Harry was staring back broke his gaze to fearfully glance at a tall man in dark clothing.</p><p>The man had a head of loosely curled hair that somehow managed to look look both uncared for and neat. He wasn't a sore sight exactly, but the only problem was that he didn't smile. Had he possessed such a trait, Harry was sure half of the female staff might have fancied him. But the look of absolute loathing he sported toward Harry made him absolutely sure they wouldn't be braiding each other's hair anytime soon.</p><p>He caught both Evan and Pansy's questioning look and shook his head, moving on to eat as much as he could. There was only little candy could do on a nine hour train ride.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Some(*Most*) parts of this chapter were extracted from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone, Chapter Seven. :) And about Snape's description, I'm imagining Snape as Louis Garrel, so that's that.</p><p>Hope you liked the chapter, </p><p>Philosophy</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Dorms</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry wasn't sure what to expect when he came to the Slytherin dorms, but was pleasantly surprised to see the Slytherins happily chatting away to each other about their holidays. They were a lot quieter than the Gryffindors, but not hostile behind closed doors. Harry stood awkwardly next to Draco and Evan as he chatted quietly with Pansy about growing up muggle, making sure to keep his answers short. It took him a little while to realize that <em>everyone</em> was in the common room, and were slowly making their way into year ranks.</p><p>Harry didn't like it.</p><p>Harry blocked out the babbling students around him and focused on feeling the magic around the room. Harry still struggled with it, but while he couldn't yet <em> see </em> magic, he was able to feel it a little. He'd been able to do it since he first started magic. Harry centered his magical core and let the magic of the earth flow over him. </p><p>At first he thought it was just Hogwarts, Harry had been able to feel her magic before, but after a moment he sensed something different. It was darker, but not in a negative way, and it was definitely welcoming. Harry looked around the room focusing on the various points it was strongest, then let out a small gasp. Bella was looking at him with a narrowed frown, but Harry was completely in his own world.</p><p>It was parselmagic. </p><p>And it was... revering him. </p><p>Harry only knew of this term because of the magic he had been able to feel off of the garden snakes in Aunt Petunia's backyard whenever they came by to visit. It felt like theirs, but it was deeper, <em>older</em>. It wasn't anything strong or obvious, but the snake motives around the room were actually runes written in parselscript(or at least he assumed that's what it was), and they were... for lack of a better term, <em> happy </em> to have a parseltongue near by. Harry let a small smile grace the corner of his lips, before returning to the real world and noticing Bella's look.</p><p>"Problem Zabini?" Harry asked with a hard look.</p><p>"None at all."She responded politely, but her speculative look didn't leave Harry for the rest of the night.</p><p>"Welcome to the greatest of the Hogwarts houses." Harry's attention snapped up as the tall pale man made himself known. The response was immediate, and the whole house calmed down to silence almost immediately. Here, in the heart of the snake nest, they looked up to him with respect, and it showed.</p><p>"We have some new members, as is expected. Ah, and we have Harrison Potter." The man did not quite have his more usual sneer, but the message that he didn't like Harry was quite obvious. "You should all know the rules of Slytherin, however I will go over them for those who don't. Take careful note, as I am not too forgiving of failure."</p><p>"We are a noble and great house, and we deserve respect. Unfortunately the more common houses don't agree. You will be up against terrible prejudice in this school, I warn you now. I expect <em> some of you </em>," He looked at Harry with the new condescending grimace, "will have to learn this lesson on your own. Slytherins do not to get caught. Any disagreements or rivalries within the house stay within these walls. If we show a weakness outside we will all be eaten alive, and I will not be best pleased."</p><p>While Harry pretended to be oblivious, he could see what the man was doing. Teacher's at his primary school used to do it all the time, though not as subtly as him. It wasn't in the words so much as the sly glances and slight inflections. He was telling Slytherin about him. He was telling them he did not like having Harry Potter in his house, and they weren't to like it either. Outside of the common room Harry was not to be singled out, but within these walls he was fair game. Harry sighed as Bella moved slightly away from him. The girl had been so promising too.</p><p>Professor Snape made some more jibes at Harry as he listed Slytherin's take on school rules, which teachers to avoid (mainly McGonagall and Babbling) and how to contact him if in need of assistance. Harry couldn't imagine going to this him for assistance at all. </p><p>Harry was startled out of his thoughts by Draco slightly pinching him from behind. He realized with some panic that the whole house was focused on the first years, who were all looking suddenly shy.</p><p>"The Professor wants you to state your name and something they don't know about you" Evan cleared up quietly, obviously aware of Harry's strayed thoughts.</p><p>Snape was glaring daggers at Harry, so he calmly stepped forward and cleared his throat.</p><p>"Harrison Potter, just in case you missed it." There were still some weak laughs around the group, but Harry could already feel the damage Professor Snape had done, and the shift in loyalty. </p><p>He knew anything and everything he did would be reported back their fathers or uncles who supported the Dark Lord. Harry frowned slightly, and shook his head as he realized the break in thought was taking too long. Harry suddenly switched on his innocent eleven-year old look, smiling shyly. "I have never tried pumpkin juice before, but I think it's my new favorite." The majority of the younger years laughed awkwardly again, but the older years saw straight through his performance. </p><p>But then, that was the point. Harry still wasn't sure if he was happy about being in Slytherin, but if he were going to be a snake, he would be the top one. He knew that their house had an entire political ranking, and there was no way in hell he was submitting to anyone ever again. </p><p>The introductions were informative to say the least. It was quite clear to see who truly lived and breathed Slytherin traits. Daphne, Tracey, Bella and Pansy all stated innocuous secrets, while Millicent Bullstrode came right out and said she was petrified of spiders, and Lillian Moon admitted she'd only found out she was a witch when she was seven. Well thank you for giving away your weaknesses. Now anyone just needed to get their hands on a spider to freak Millicent out, and while Harry didn't mind, the majority of the house would judge Lilian on her muggle upbringing. Even if both her parents were squibs from noble houses.</p><p>Look at how they had responded to him.</p><p>Despite what Harry had expected, neither Draco or Evan gave anything away. Harry had thought Draco would be up and bragging about his father, judging from how most of the first year Slytherin's had flocked to him because of it, but his face turned fleetingly hard at every mention of his father, though no one who wasn't paying attention would notice. Evan said nothing about his family, and everyone seemed to give him appraising looks despite barely admitting anything. Harry would try to research that. While Goyle seemed completely clueless, Crabbe spoke with an obviously well educated tone. Harry narrowed his eyes as the boy immediately slipped back into his stupid guise after speaking.</p><p>Once they were all done Snape gave each first year a mentor to contact before bothering him, then sent everyone off to bed. Harry was surprised when everyone went. He noted, with some amusement, the foul glare on Marcus Flint's face when he was named Harry's mentor.</p><p>Soon, Harry bid farewell to Pansy and Bella, who both smiled at him in return, but kept their distance. While Draco and Evan still walked with Harry, they remained silent the entire way. Draco sported a small frown of annoyance while Evan sighed contemplatively. Harry knew what they were both thinking, <em>Commit political suicide or abandon him</em>. Harry wouldn't blame them if they picked the first, their company had been appreciated while it lasted.</p><p>It was anything but quiet in the dorms, which caught Harry out a bit. The Slytherin personas he expected weren't developed yet, but maybe he had just been stereotyping based on what he'd read. Draco and Nott got into a huge debate (which consisted of Nott yelling and Draco sporting an annoyed but bored look) about who got the bed closest to the bathroom. While they were arguing, Evan was mediating. Harry claimed the one in the corner closest to the window.</p><p>Yes, window.</p><p>They were under ground, but the dorms, as it turned out, looked out over the lake from the cliffs. Harry could only assume that there was an illusion stopping the windows from being seen from the outside in. He was amused to note their was even a little balcony, and even more amused when he went out on it and spotted an older Slytherin girl smoking on the balcony four over. </p><p>Yes, Slytherin was nothing like he expected.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The next morning was a bit of a shock to Harry. Obviously he had been the topic of quite a few dorms over night, and Slytherin, along with the rest of the school, had obviously decided to hate him. People shuffled over taking up free spaces when he tried to have breakfast, and he could hear whispering everywhere he went. It was. . .annoying to say the least.</p><p>"There, Look, wearing the dark cloak..." (all the school cloaks were black for Merlin's sake!)</p><p>"He hasn't even brushed his hair."</p><p>"Look at his nicer clothes, he obviously think he's better than us."</p><p>"Did you see his face?"</p><p>"Did you see the scar?Nearly covers half his face!"</p><p>"Oozes dark magic, that one."</p><p>"His eyes are the same color as the Unforgivable curse!"</p><p>"Only a Powerful Dark wizard could have defeated you-know-who."</p><p>Harry frowned to himself internally. His face to the outwards world was blank. He wasn't exactly fond of the last comment, after all, the man had murdered his family. He looked back across at the Slytherin table, and everyone who had been staring at him suddenly turned away and put their book bags in empty spots. Harry rolled his eyes. Fortunately he had lots of practice with the students and teachers hating him.</p><p>Draco and Evan, or as they were now known, Malfoy and Rosier, had decided to, not exactly abandon him, but for him to figure it out on his own. To <em>prove his worth.</em> With a slight huff of annoyance he realized he didn't have a timetable. Harry held his shoulders back and his head high and walked quietly up to Professor Snape.</p><p>Harry knew Snape knew he was there, but the man didn't look up."Excuse me professor, may I have my timetable please?"</p><p>"Already looking for special treatment I see." Snape snarled, however when Quirrell looked up and took interest his posture shifted just slightly. Enough for most people to miss. But Harry wasn't most people. He had about eleven years worth of reading people's body language, a skill he had acquired during the years he'd have to read the moods of the Dursley's so he was aware of whether he ever needed to leave the room or be somewhere else. Snape was on the defensive. The question was <em>why?</em> Harry frowned slightly. Harry dropped these thoughts as he realized Quirrell was talking to him.</p><p>"A-are you excit-t-ted to ss-start classes Mr. P-Potter?"</p><p>"I am, although a little daunted. Those who have been brought up in the magical world have the advantage of years of soaking up little bits of knowledge." This raised many eyebrows along the staff table.</p><p>"You were r-r-raised by m-mu-muggles then?" Quirrell asked, obviously surprised.</p><p>Harry merely smiled his fake innocent smile, making Snape narrow his eyes further. Something was off about Quirrell, Harry deduced, and he wasn't sure he wanted to spill all of his diary out to him, much less a Professor. Snape reluctantly handed over Harry's timetable. Harry nodded politely, then made his way out of the hall. He was aware of Evan and Draco watching him with contemplative looks, but he purposefully ignored them.</p><p>Once he had walked as far away from the hallway as he could without getting lost, he took a deep breath as he reached for his magic, calling upon Hogwarts.</p><p>'<em>My Lady?</em>' Harry asked mentally, feeling a little stupid until a playful blow of magic swirled around him. Hogwarts's magic wasn't visible, but she was<em> there,</em> Harry knew it, and she liked him.</p><p>'<em>Do you know the way to the kitchens?</em>' Harry asked hopefully, and Hogwarts, seeming happy she had gotten a request from Harry, pushed her magic from behind him to make Harry start walking. Harry let the magic guide him, trying not to display his shock. Hogwarts was <em>sentient,</em> and she was responding to him, and she <em>liked</em> him. Harry shook his head and payed attention to where he was going. He didn't want to waste Hogwarts's time asking for directions everyday, even though she seemed happy to help.</p><p>When he reached the kitchens, Harry was relieved when the house elves were completely unbiased against houses, and while a little surprised to find a first year there on the first day, more than happy to provide Harry with breakfast. In fact, Harry got a much better breakfast than upstairs, with lots of fruit and some wholemeal pancakes.</p><p>Harry was a bit embarrassed at their awed faces and chanting of 'Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts!' when he introduced himself, but they were nice little fellas. The little critters even managed to slip some apples in his bag without his notice.</p><p>Harry made it to Transfiguration first with ease. Unlike his fellow first years, the castle was not like a giant warren. He had an advantage, one he completely planned on using. It seemed that every time he was confused, Lady Hogwarts would always guide him in the right direction. She even showed him a few short cuts that he planned to abuse as often as possible, and at the happy swirl of magic he felt when he had asked for a tour sometime, Harry was sure he'd know the castle inside out by the time the year was over. He might even create a map.</p><p>Harry sat in the back row of the class next to the isle. Soon the other Slytherins arrived. For some reason Transfiguration and Charms were taught with one house per lesson in first year while all of the other classes for the rest of the seven years were mixed. Harry tried not to be hurt when the rest of his year mates sat in pairs, as far from Harry as physically possible. They were whispering to each other, and at least unlike the rest of the school, Slytherins weren't overly obvious about who they were talking about.</p><p>Harry brought his gaze up to the cat sitting stiffly on the desk and observing him carefully. Harry snorted quietly, then pulled out his text book and some parchment, and sat quietly. He could feel the magic coming out of her, it was almost exactly the same as Professor McGonagall, despite being hidden impressively. When McGonagall finally did reveal herself, almost all of the class gasped. Harry noted Bella Zabini hadn't, and added this to his mental file of her. Despite apparent closeness to the others, she hadn't shared her information.</p><p>"Good morning, class. I'm glad to see you haven't come to this class with any pre-conceived notions." McGonagall took a jibe at Malfoy, who actually went bright red. </p><p>"Transfiguration is a highly complicated subject, one which not all of you will be able to grasp." Her eyes lingered over Crabbe and Goyle. "I will not tolerate any foolishness, and if I deem you to be wasting my time, you shall be kicked out, and never come back. Do I make myself clear?"</p><p>They all murmured their agreement.</p><p>"Very well then. The Roll. Miss Bullstrode."</p><p>"Present."</p><p>"Mr. Crabbe."</p><p>"Here."</p><p>"Miss Davies."</p><p>"Here Professor."</p><p>"Mr. Goyle."</p><p>"Here."</p><p>"Miss Greengrass."</p><p>"Present."</p><p>"Mr. Malfoy" Harry noted a slightly pained look as she surveyed Malfoy.</p><p>"Here." He also noticed Malfoy's sneer.</p><p>"Miss Moon."</p><p>"Present."</p><p>"Mr. Nott."</p><p>"Here."</p><p>"Miss Parkinson."</p><p>"Here."</p><p>"Mr. Rosier."</p><p>"Present."</p><p>There was a slight pause, and she said Harry's name with a sigh.</p><p>"Mr. Potter."</p><p>"Here Professor." McGonagall seemed conflicted for a moment, before her lips turned slightly downwards.</p><p>"Miss. Zabini."</p><p>"Here." That set the tone for the transfiguration lessons.</p><p>While the Professor was arguably cool towards him when classes first began, by the time class was over, he was quite sure he had melted the cool heart of the stoic Professor. At the start, if Harry knew the answer (which he almost always did, having almost killed himself memorizing his first year books inside and out), and raised his hand, he would be the last one chosen, and she got a slightly constipated look when his answer was so correct. But the more he got each answer correct, the more the Professor's look softened. </p><p>By the time they came down to practicals and he turned his match stick to a needle in the first five minutes, Harry was sure he had her wrapped around his finger. Apparently his father had been a genius at the subjects. Harry inwardly smiled at most of the frustrated looks that were shot his way by the time the class was over. Malfoy and Rosier had blank but pleased looks by the end of it as well. And while Harry understood their reasons, even the hat had said he wasn't a very forgiving person. He ignored them entirely.</p><p>Each professor had a reaction to calling his name, and with the exception of Flitwick and Binns, it wasn't at all positive. Binns probably couldn't even tell you who Harry Potter was, let alone which student, but Flitwick had been a bit of a surprise. He had squeaked and toppled off his pile of books at Harry's name. But he'd then picked himself up, giving Harry a huge smile and continuing on. </p><p>Charms was easily going to become Harry's new favorite subject. Surprisingly Quirrell's response was mild. Other than a slight pause, he didn't react much at all. Sprout outright growled his name and Harry's name hadn't even been called in Astronomy. He had worked his way through all of them, all of those years of charming teachers in muggle primary school playing in full roll all day. He raised his hand, smiled and nodded, volunteered, aced his tasks.</p><p>By afternoon, he was the first first year to ever have scored up to 100 points on their first day of classes. Word spread out among Slytherin, and they all payed even more attention to him. This was perfect. This was exactly what he needed. If he could not gain political power from the inside, he'd gain allies and make himself valuable from the side lines.</p><p>Potions, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter. Professor Snape most obviously hated him, and while no non-Slytherin would be able to tell, it stuck out like a sore thumb for Slytherin's, further soiling his efforts of the entire day.</p><p>Snape made his dramatic entrance, then proceeded with his opening speech. </p><p>"You are here to learn the subtle science, and exact art of potion making," he began, keeping them silent without effort (even the Gryffindors). "As there is little foolish wand-waving many of you will not believe this is magic. I don't really expect you to understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper to death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads."</p><p>"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"</p><p>Harry didn't even miss a beat.</p><p>"Draught of the Living Death, Sir."</p><p>"Let's try again," Snape didn't even seem to care that Harry knew the answer. "Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Out of the corner of is eye he saw Hermione jump in her seat, hand raised.</p><p>"In the stomach of a goat, Sir."</p><p>Snape sneered. </p><p>"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"</p><p>"They are the same plant. They are also known as aconite."</p><p>"Your will address me with respect."</p><p>"Sorry Sir." Harry bit back his sarcasm, keeping his face perfectly blank of emotion.</p><p>"What is the common name for <em> Ranae Excluduntes </em>?"</p><p>"Frog spawn, although non-magical toad spawn is often referred to under the same title." Harry was a bit baffled at this question. If Harry remembered correctly it was O.W.L level at the least. It wasn't even in the First Year Potions book.</p><p>"Name three uses for Acromantula venom."</p><p>Harry frowned a little at this. "I'm not sure, but I think in general spider bite antidotes, in the Derlling bruise balm, and..." Harry frowned again, he couldn't think of another use. "Sorry Sir, I don't know any others." Snape's sneer increased, and Harry noted a triumphant glint in his eye.</p><p>He first spun to face Hermione. "Sit down, two points from Gryffindor for trying to interrupt class." Harry could see Hermione's heart breaking.</p><p>"For your information Potter, there are over thirty uses for Acromantula venom, but I'm sure you didn't bother to read much of the textbook before coming to class. I suppose you think you can cruise through on your celebrity status. I won't have you tainting other more useful students. Move next to Longbottom." Harry was seething on the inside, but refused to acknowledge it to Snape. </p><p>The Professor was acting like a petty <em>child</em>!</p><p>Bullstrode, who had been forced to sit next to Harry after being the last to class, didn't look as if she could decide whether to be pleased or disgusted at having to now share a bench with Granger. Either way, Harry was pleasantly surprised when Longbottom gave him a small smile as soon as Snape's back was turned. They didn't have a chance to say much, as Snape didn't like excessive noise, but at least Harry managed to avert any danger every time Neville almost stuffed up. </p><p>Harry had the added advantage of having cooked for half his life for the Dursleys, and Potions was almost exactly like that, so despite Longbottom's shaky hands and tendency to miss-read steps, they had a potion at the end of the class which would easily make an A grade, and possibly an O. Snape didn't seem to know what to do when they handed their vial in, as it was easily the best in the class. He settled in the end for insulting them both, implying they cheated, and deducting two points from Neville for having a messy workstation. Harry sighed, but at least appreciated the fact that Snape wasn't going to be stupid enough to take points from his own house.</p><p>Harry and Longbottom were first out the door, and Longbottom gave him a big grin, which Harry returned, before opening his mouth to say something.</p><p>"You're not associating with that traitor, are you Nev?" Weasley's voice made Harry's heart sink.</p><p>Harry was amused to see Longbottom mouth 'Nev?' with some confusion. </p><p>Obviously Ron was trying to sound as if they were on friendly terms. Despite this Longbottom looked torn, and Harry decided that as nice as it would be to have a friend at the moment, Longbottom had always struggled to fit in, and Harry wasn't going to make it harder for him in his own dorm.</p><p>"What? Because you'd clearly be brave enough to stand up to Professor Snape." Harry drawled, pulling the attention to him.</p><p>"I'm braver than you'll ever be, you slimy snake." Weasley yelled. Harry noticed the other Slytherins had emerged from the room, and were torn about supporting a fellow Slytherin or not.</p><p>"Oh yes, insult me with my own house animal, I'm sure I'll be so, <em> so </em> upset with the comparison to something I find commendable."</p><p>Obviously Harry needed to tone down the bigger words a little, as everyone but Granger seemed to take a moment to swallow that.</p><p>"Are you proud? Now that you've let Gryffindor down. Your parents must be rolling in their graves to know they gave birth to the next Dark Lord." Seamus and Ron had apparently formed a bit of a team. </p><p>"Oh yes, bring up the orphan boy's parents. Don't worry, when I retaliate mummy will be there for you to cry on. I obviously had to grow up, but does little Ronniekins need to rely on his family so much." Harry smirked, but it was a little broken, a bit cold. Anger froze his blood and turned his stomach to glacier. He wasn't sure if it was him, but the temperature in the hallway decreased gradually. Harry heard the collective intake of breath, however he would <em> not </em> let his parents be up for discussion. Ron had gone bright red after realizing he was taunting Harry about his dead parents, then drained of all colour when Harry used his pet name, he had heard the Weasley twins shout it out during the sorting and at Ron's pale face, knew he despised it. </p><p>"Do you even care about your parents? Heartless git."</p><p>Harry eyed him up and down slowly, a cool mask in place. "You're the one laughing at the family that ended the war."</p><p>And with that Harry spun on his heel and headed to the kitchens for dinner. Despite his calm exterior, he was quite cut up on the inside. Harry decided just to study on his bed when he reached the Slytherin dorms. He had the curtains drawn, as he had a silencing charm on them, and much to his amusement, Nott had been singing in the shower when he arrived. He was just reaching the end of the third chapter on rune alphabets when the wards on his trunk flared.</p><p>Harry growled, ripping back the curtains and folding himself neatly off the bed.</p><p>"<em> Enough. </em>"</p><p>The rest of his dorm mates looked up shocked. There had been numerous attempts, by various year groups, and two teachers (although they managed to blend their magical signature enough Harry couldn't be sure who they were) to break into his trunk, and he was getting sick of it. None of the other boys seemed to know what to do being caught red handed.</p><p>"Are you going to dob us in to Snape then? Snitch?"</p><p>Harry snorted.</p><p>"Oh yes, because I'm <em> sure </em> he'd be on my side. I have a shocking ward on there too, which is currently deactivated. As of now, it will be activated. I just thought you should know."</p><p>Malfoy and Rosier, Harry noted, were on their beds. Not part of the group, but not siding with Harry. Neutral ground. Nott, on the other hand, looked furious. Harry simply raised an eyebrow at him.</p><p>"How do <em> you </em> have such strong wards on your trunk?" He demanded. Harry glanced over to Nott's corner. Even if he did have wards, it wouldn't have mattered, as his stuff was in a huge mess everywhere.</p><p>"Maybe I have things worth keeping." Harry drawled.</p><p>"My things are worth keeping." Nott bristled.</p><p>Harry let his gaze slowly go over the mess before returning to Nott. "Clearly not any worth taking care of."</p><p>Harry left Nott spluttering before climbing back into bed.</p><p>"Goodnight boys." He drawled. Only a surprised sounding Goyle called out goodnight back, and Harry heard a whack of something hitting him. Harry sighed and pulled the curtains.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>He had been trying to shake off the self-pity, but it crept up on him again in great swells. The next day, with most people sleeping in on the weekend, Harry had actually managed to find a seat in the great hall. There was almost a three-meter gap on either side of him. Apparently it wasn't only the Dursley's who thought he might be contagious. The only person, who was engaging with Harry at all, was in a sort of sick-funny way, Ron. </p><p>Of course it mainly involved insults or rumor mongering, but it was the most acknowledgement he'd gotten from the entire student body except for Longbottom(who he was paired with in Potions), Finch-Flecthy(who he sat next to in History), Scamander(who he was partnered with in Herbology), and Li (who he sat next to in astronomy). Granger wasn't half bad when she wasn't glaring at him about being better than her at most subjects. But all in all, the only people who loved him were the teacher's, excluding Quirrell who he avoided interactions with at all costs, and Snape, petty bastard.</p><p>Not wanting to hang out in the common room or Library, and not really wanting to go outdoors, Harry finished his breakfast with a sigh, and decided to at least do something useful with his time. He slowly made his way up to the seventh floor, exploring with the help of Hogwarts.</p><p>As he got off the fifth level staircase, and it moved out from behind him, Harry looked up to find Peeves grinning down at him like a maniac. Harry checked to see no one was around, then stuck his tongue out at Peeves. Although it was a muggle book, Harry had remembered reading about Poltergeists, and that the best way to beat them was to defeat them at their own game. Harry almost sighed in relief at the shocked look the poltergeist sported cackling and pulling out a bag full of chalk.</p><p>"<em> Potter, you rotter, you snotter oh dear! Joining with the snakes causing fear, fear, fear! </em>" Peeves sung bounding around Harry and throwing little bits of chalk, but failing to actually hit Harry. </p><p>Instead of being annoyed Harry just laughed and returned in a sing-song voice much like peeves: "<em> Peevsie, weevsie Poltergeist, Nothing more than an oversight. You taunt and tease and feel like your devious, But no matter what pranksters won't take you serious! </em>"</p><p>Harry didn't notice the Weasley twins standing in an alcove watching as Harry exploded a bit of chalk in Peeves' hand causing the little devil to be covered in chalk dust. He didn't see them turn to face each other with dropped jaws as Peeves just laughed along with Harry as the two disappeared around the corner, seemingly content in each others company. Harry did feel a lot better, however, after parting ways with Peeves when he realized that it was almost time for lunch. Even though Lady Hogwarts had been reluctant, obviously having wanted to show off another cool room she had, let him go on the promise of continuing on soon.</p><p>More than one Slytherin looked at him oddly, as he came back to the dorm in such an obviously cheerful mood, however Harry just ignored them all and headed up to bed. He was surprised at how tired he was from the day, and decided to spend Sunday finishing off homework in the common room. He followed up with this plan, and other than going to the kitchens to pick up food for the day, Harry spent the whole day sitting at a desk in the corner finishing off homework. </p><p>Malfoy and Rosier came over at one point, and they almost had a civil conversation, until it degenerated into insults once Malfoy laughed about how long it was taking Harry to finish his homework. This occurred, Harry noted, only after another Slytherin was paying attention to what they were doing, which made Harry suspect that they weren't actually as against him as he'd thought.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Earned Loyalty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His house still hadn't let up on the exclusion front.</p><p>Every breakfast, he entered the great hall, walked the length of the Slytherin table watching as students rushed to cover empty places. Every morning he paused at the end, made eye contact with Snape, then walked back out of the hall without eating.</p><p>He had made sure no one saw him go to the kitchens, and that no one ever saw him with food too. This was mostly to get to Snape, who was treating him even worse than after the time Harry had seen in his pensive. Harry spent at least four nights a week in detention with Snape, and usually he had to scramble to get most of his assignments done, leading to a lot of all-nighters and early mornings. </p><p>It was slowly beginning to take a toll on him, as it made for very long days, but Harry refused to break. Harry's lack of acceptance at the Slytherin table for meals had been noticed by pretty much everyone, after about the third day. There were so many rumors going around that Harry wasn't sure if anyone else had time to talk about anything but him. Only a few people had made any indication of caring. Neville was the first. They were still paired up in potions, and Harry was pleased to say there had only been one potion explode, and that was merely a lack of concentration allowing someone to throw in some beetles eyes while Harry was focused elsewhere. </p><p>Neville didn't talk much in class, but smiled at Harry in the hallways when he thought no one was looking. But after a week of Harry not appearing to get any meals, Neville had slipped him a note that said he could save Harry some food and leave it somewhere for him to pick up if he needed. Harry had just written a note back saying simply "I'm fine. Thanks."</p><p>Justin and Rolf made points of secretly handing him apples and other treats, while Hermione and Sue had practically shoved him into an empty classroom before hugging him to the point that Harry couldn't breath. He was still squirmy when it came to touching, but he let them because he knew they needed reassurance more than he did.</p><p>Flitwick was one of the teachers who had actually called Harry back after class early on instead of just giving him worried looks.</p><p>"I couldn't help but notice you aren't attending meals." He noted, which made Harry snort a little bit at that.</p><p>"I'm rather afraid Slytherin isn't willing to accept me just yet." he said with a small tilt of his lips.</p><p>"I could talk to Professor Snape..." Harry's snort interrupted the diminutive professor. </p><p>"I don't mean to be rude sir, but I don't think that would help much."</p><p>"'You have to eat!" Harry noticed he didn't even bother trying to defend Snape.</p><p>"I am eating. Fortunately, I am a Slytherin, no matter what the rest of the world seems to think of that, and I am quite capable of ensuring my continued livelihood against all odds." </p><p>Flitwick seemed to deflate a little, and was obviously having an internal war about whether or not to say something. Harry just gave him a slightly lopsided grin, before heading out. He was pretty sure he heard the professor complaining to himself that it just wasn't right, which pleased Harry a lot. The most shocking, however, had been the Blood Baron himself, who he had bumped into after another night of detention from Snape.</p><p>"You're not eating."</p><p>It wasn't exactly concern, but Harry still found himself staring at the Baron doing an incredible impression of a goldfish. Once he had finally come to terms with the fact that essentially Baron the Great was practically inquiring after his health, he tried to get a hold of himself.</p><p>"I am more that capable of simply finding the kitchens." Harry had responded. The Baron had gazed at him approvingly before asking him if he could accompany him to breakfast the next day. Harry agreed readily, knowing full on well the power shift that would happen seeing the <em>Bloody Baron talking and escorting a first year to breakfast</em>.</p><p>That was exactly what happened the next day. Harry had walked side by side with the Bloody Baron, talking about magic theory. Harry even managed to get a bit of Intel on the runes that were on the Slytherin dungeon walls, and confirmed that they were indeed parselrunes. Harry couldn't help but go fervent at the discovery, fully planning on deciphering them when everyone was asleep, it wasn't as if he got any.</p><p>Harry hadn't noticed that he had reached the Great Hall until he felt the entire student body and their eyes on him. Harry's smile dropped as he took a lot at the Slytherin table. Everyone had paused what they were doing, some of their bags hanging in the air from the paused action of blocking seats, and the other three houses looked between Harry and the Baron with varied degrees of shock, fear and awe.</p><p>"You're right, you're quite disliked by the members of our house." the Baron hummed.</p><p>Harry shrugged and looked at Snape. "You can blame our head of house for that." </p><p>He held Snape's gaze for a moment before he turned, finding the Baron glaring at Snape as well. He took a look at the table one last time before tilting his lips at Malfoy, Parkinson and Rosier, who sported vague smiles of their own. He caught Zabini's eyes, and she inclined her head in acknowledgement before Harry turned, leaving the great hall.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Harry ate quickly, taking an offered batch of strawberries from the elves and made way down to the spot on the lawn where they were having flying lessons (and why didn't they use the pitch!?). He was first to arrive, getting a calculating look from Hooch, but a small nod.</p><p>"Which side are Slytherin standing?"</p><p>"On the left."</p><p>Harry made his way slowly along the line, and even though Harry didn't know much about brooms, he had enough sense to deduct that they were all in pretty bad shape. Eventually he spotted one that looked okay on the Gryffindor side, and quickly swapped it for a Slytherin one. The rest of his house soon showed up, Nott bragging about running into a Helicopter out flying one day.</p><p>"How do you know what a helicopter looks like?" Harry drawled.</p><p>Nott spluttered for a moment, not able to decide whether to continue with his story, or deny knowing about anything muggle. In the end he settled for a glare and claiming he'd found out afterwards what it was. Harry was pretty impressed with the obvious lie.</p><p>"Must have been embarrassing for your father getting a letter from the ministry for his son breaking the stature of secrecy."</p><p>"What would you know about the ministry?" Nott replied coolly.</p><p>Harry shrugged lightly. "I am perfectly capable of research."</p><p>Nott opened his mouth to reply with another snide comment, but the Gryffindors arrived.</p><p>"Problem amongst the snakes traitor?" Ron asked with a smirk.</p><p>The Slytherin's all bristled, but Hary beat them to it.</p><p>"Just because Gryffindor's are too rash to understand the delicate art of politics doesn't mean any of us would feel even the slightest bit hesitant in shredding you to pieces and leaving you sobbing on the ground. Now quite child, the big boys are talking." Harry ignored Ron's spluttering and turned his back on him to return to face Malfoy. </p><p>He was a little thrown off by Malfoy staring at him like he'd never seen him before. Harry gave him a questioning look.</p><p>"We treat you terribly." Malfoy stated quietly.</p><p>"Yes. I've noticed. Slytherin have been decidedly lacking in their supposed subtlety."</p><p>"But you still defended our house." Said Rosier.</p><p>Harry gave them a patronizing glare as Madam Hooch walked up. "It's my house too, and just because the rest of you seem to be breaking the rules of Slytherin because Snape is acting like a petty child, doesn't mean I have any inclination to follow you all to your doom."</p><p>"Well, what are you all waiting for?" Madam Hooch said, "Everybody stand by a school broom, and say "'Up.'"</p><p>Harry stuck his hand out over the broom with the expectation of it coming to him.  Luckily, no one noticed as everyone else said (or yelled) 'Up!' at the same time. Harry got small satisfaction out of Malfoy being corrected on his grip, making him eye roll. He looked around to see that he was one of the few that had actually succeeded. Hermione Granger’s had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville’s hadn’t moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a quaver in Neville’s voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.</p><p>Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. After a moment of pause and a nod of approval, Madam Hooch grabbed her whistle. “Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard,” said Madam Hooch. “Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —”</p><p>But Longbottom, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch’s lips. “Come back, boy!” she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle — twelve feet — twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling<br/>away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and —</p><p>Harry was up on his broom before Madam Hooch could shout his name. "Harry Potter, get back here this instance!"</p><p>But Harry was focused on only one thing. "Longbottom!" he shouted, trying to grab the attention of the terrified boy who was slipping off of his broom. Harry flew close to him, circling round him to try to get his attention.</p><p>"Longbottom! Longbottom!" Harry grunted in irritation before he got a hold of the front of Longbottom's broom, yanking it to face him. "NEVILLE!"</p><p>Longbottom finally looked at him, terror in his eyes as Harry sighed. "Just look at me, Longbottom, and steady your feet on the holsters." Harry said in a calm tone, though he felt a little bit irritated. He hadn't planned this through, and if wrung the wrong way, would do him more harm than good in Slytherin.</p><p>Longbottom seemed to have calmed down enough for Harry to let go of the grip he had on his broom, flying slowly next to Neville so as to not scare him into falling.</p><p>Madam Hooch was furious when he and Longbottom reached the ground, lecturing him of all the things that could have gone wrong before laughing and telling him he flew just like his father. Harry nearly flushed at this, and offered a small smile. Even if it was grudgingly, half of the Gryffindors looked at Harry now with mild appraisal, or at least some form of respect. Harry nearly cringed at that. Any sort of respect given to you by Gryffindors more often than not meant you did something recklessly foolish.</p><p>Harry sighed when Madam Hooch told him she'd be having a meeting with Snape, though he lightened up a bit when she granted him twenty house points, giving him a total of racking up 225 points alone in first year. The Slytherin's looked between annoyed and contemplative when Harry met their gazes, and had to deal with Nott trying to soil his image for helping a Gryffindor out.</p><p>Harry was dutifully annoyed by the time class was over, and Longbottom had come back from the Infirmary to catch Harry before he went to his next class.</p><p>"Harry!" he yelled, and Harry's jaw ticked slightly before he put his broom away. While the Slytherin first years were moving about as if minding their own business, Harry knew perfectly well they were holding on to every word the interaction would bring. He saw Granger walking next to Longbottom, having been the one to escort him.</p><p>"Longbottom, Granger." Harry greeted, silently hoping they would ask to talk in private. Harry subtly inclined his head to the side, but obviously, it went right past both Gryffindor's heads as they rambled off.</p><p>"What you did, Harry, that was really brave." Granger stated with a meaningful voice as Harry gave her a tight smile.</p><p>"Thank you,Granger."</p><p>Neville shook his head silently. "I knew it wasn't true."</p><p>Most of the Slytherin first year's perked up at this, and Harry was tempted to move the conversation just to spite them, but even he was curious.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Longbottom sighed."Ron Weasley thinks you’re some kind of evil sociopathic maniac, and he’s been telling the entirety of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff that on a daily basis, but I think he’s being stupid and I plan to tell him so. Just look at what you did today!" </p><p>Harry couldn't help it, a vicious smile graced his lips when he heard that, and judging by the stillness of the Slytherin first years, they had heard it too. Longbottom couldn't have said it better for the life of him. Here he was, talking to none other than two<em> Gryffindor's</em>, and despite being a Slytherin, had won their loyalty. To the point where they planned on openly defending his honor.</p><p>"I appreciate it, Longbottom. Thank you, Granger." he said, his smile barely clearing off his face.</p><p>"You can call me Neville." Long- no, Neville stated.</p><p>"Neville." Harry said, inclining his head to him and Granger before walking off to his next class, not looking back at the rest of the Slytherin first years.</p><p>He waited before he turned a corner, smile breaking free, and for the first time since he'd been sorted into Slytherin, he laughed.</p><p>But of course, all good must be outbalanced by the bad in Harry's life.</p><p>
  <span>On his way back to charms he came across an older group of Gryffindors. Harry didn't think they were going to do anything, however just as he reached the top of a set of three stairs one of them sent a tripping hex. Harry let out a small yell and only just managed to partially grab the handrail, scraping his wrist all the way down and landing heavily on one leg. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked up to find the Gryffindors laughing, and a nearby group of older Slytherins sneering at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span><em>This is what you get for letting your guard down,</em> Harry chided himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He refused to give them the satisfaction of seeing him hurt, so just ignored it and climbed to his feet picked up his bag and walked to class. As soon as he was round the next corner he dumped his bag on a bench and assessed his injuries. He was pretty sure his leg was going to bruise, and both wrists hurt, but the scrape was the worst thing. He sighed and just used a spell he knew to clear off the blood, continuing on his way to Defence with a slight limp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quirrell didn't outright comment on Harry's limp, but gave him a questioning look all the same. Defence was with the Ravenclaws, so went by relatively smoothly with Li as his partner, except for glares got when Harry answered questions. It seemed Quirrell had taken a strong interest in what Harry was learning in Defence. Harry could understand that, in a way, but made sure to appear great at theory and terrible at practical's, not that there were many of those. First year didn't matter all that much, only OWL's and NEWT's really did anyway. He still wasn't sure what exactly about Quirrell that made his skin crawl, but he didn't trust that man in the least. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fact that he was <em>interested</em> in him gave him enough shivers. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Snake Politics</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next week flew by and even though Harry still couldn't get a seat at the Slytherin table, he was very much aware of the power dynamic shift that rotated around the first years. </p><p>That was one of the things about Slytherin. They valued order, needed to know who was top and who was at the bottom, but now that Harry had showed up, and refused to be the bottom of the food chain, yet also refused to join the ranks while he had proved his worth, made him an unknown factor, a dangerous variable. Even some of the upper years had began to notice, and paid much more attention to him.</p><p>He had found instances where he was followed more frequently than not, but because Lady Hogwarts as on his side, he could easily lose them, and if he was in the mood, run them in circles. It was a constant topic of discussion.</p><p>"How the bloody hell does he always make it to class before everybody else?!"</p><p>"It's like he always bloody disappears."</p><p>"How is he friends with <em>Peeves</em>?!"</p><p>" The Bloody Baron hasn't talked to a student in at least fifty years!"</p><p>"What's so special about him?"</p><p>But even though the rumors were at least now into more questioning curiosity than malicious and frightful, Harry approached Halloween with with a sense of dread and an increase in his nightmares now that he knew it was the night his parents had been murdered. He wished he'd been oblivious, but he had been a bit curious on <em>what</em> exactly the books said about him talked about. And as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. The only positive side of his insomnia was that he got to study the runes that were written on the walls. He wasn't anywhere near completing nor deciphering them, but he had gotten through a good enough portion to see a distinct pattern.</p><p>It was odd, being in Slytherin. Half the time Harry saw a group of snot nosed jerks. But half the time (and it was actually half, not a portion) Slytherin completely surprised him.</p><p>The dorm wasn't usually quiet in the mornings, as they were all actually morning people, and usually there was some good-natured bickering going on. On Halloween, the rest of his dorm-mates were pretty quiet, actually acknowledged Harry, and even offered him first shower. They were being <em> nice </em>. It took until he was almost about to leave the common room before he realized why.</p><p>"Harrison Potter!" someone shouted, nearly making Harry trip over in shock at being addressed. He turned around cautiously, still a little thrown by the behavior in his dorm that morning.</p><p>"Grace Weitts." Harry returned when he saw who it was.</p><p>The elder girl looked shocked that Harry had known who she was, but shook it off. "I'm sorry about your parents. The house will welcome you at the table today."</p><p>Harry was completely thrown. He eyed Grace carefully.</p><p>She was, to the majority of the school, just another sixth year. In Slytherin, she was the Queen. The Weitts were filthy rich, and produced generation after generation of masters in their chosen fields. Grace was looking to be one of the youngest Charms mistress in over three hundred years (she would do it too, Harry knew). Both her elder brothers had achieved theirs in Charms and Enchanting.</p><p>Harry eventually nodded his head in acknowledgement.</p><p>"I'd be honored."</p><p>He wasn't stupid. Despite being royally pissed off that he couldn't just eat in the hall every meal, he wasn't ready to take on Slytherin. It would be political suicide to do anything but accept. Harry's mind was racing though, and he decided to take advantage.</p><p>"Sorry about your leader." Harry said, and managed to sound sincere. There was a huge intake of breath, as Grace hadn't chosen a particularly private spot to talk.</p><p>"May I walk you to breakfast?" Harry asked casually.</p><p>Grace had been included in the shocked breath, but like any good Slytherin leader, recovered in record time. "That depends on what you meant by that last statement."</p><p>Harry kept his face perfectly blank, but looked her in the eye. "I meant what I said. Death of any form is a loss."</p><p>"Including the death of the Dark Lord?" This time one of Grace's circle of followers asked, and both Grace and Harry gave matching sneers. Grace beat him to answering her.</p><p>"If you don't know when to use your sense about what should and shouldn't be said aloud, then simply keep your mouth shut at all times." Harry appreciated the sharp cut down, but decided to answer anyway. </p><p>"I can't imagine we would have been on the same side, but he was obviously a strong leader." Harry replied, he seemed to shock the house again. </p><p>"You are a strange wizard Harrison Potter." Grace said, giving him an odd look. Harry merely nodded, and offered his arm. They talked of nothing in various forms as they made their way to the table, and while Harry got a few odd looks from students in other houses, it was nothing on the look Snape gave him when he sat Grace down, then circled around the table to sit opposite her.</p><p>The whole thing was a political move.</p><p>Firstly, not all the Slytherins were dark. That was a misconception. Most of them were, but quite a few families were grey, unnamed, and a few even light (albeit with open minds). Secondly, Dark, Grey or Light, nearly every Slytherin wanted power, and with Harry Potter's name, came political power. Harry wasn't about to let that slip.</p><p>Harry held his own throughout the whole breakfast conversation, and actually managed to make Grace Weitts laugh a few times. That being said, even though he could do politics, he had never enjoyed it very much, and was more than happy to escape to Herbology in the morning. They had Herbology with the Ravenclaws as well, and like defence, the Ravenclaws didn't take kindly to Harry knowing all the answers, nor were they as good at the practical work. It only helped when Li came up to him and hugged him fiercely when class was over, telling him she'd be there if he needed anyone to talk to.</p><p>They were repotting gladriahdal seedlings today, which had to be about the most boring plant ever. They were one stem, and one leaf, all exactly the same colour and they all grew to be exactly two feet high. The only magical property they had was that the leaf, if dried and crushed, was useful as magical bug repellent if mixed in with other fertilizers. Once a year, on Beltain, they produced a small seed (exactly the same colour as the rest of the plant). As such, the Herbology lesson on them dragged on nearly as much as history classes usually did.</p><p>The Slytherins had history before lunch as well, and went dragging their feet.</p><p>Hermione and Harry were the only two paying attention to Binns lecture on the Goblin treaty of 1213. It was surprisingly interesting, as they had been fighting for the right to use Dragons to guard their vaults. Originally they had a dragon for each of their levels of security, with the bigger more fierce dragons guarding the lower levels. The wizard council (pre ministry) at the time had outlawed their use, and the treaty had taken three years to pass through. Now there were a certain number of dragons allowed dependant on the number of galleons in circulation. It was also one of the major reasons behind the distinction of a lot of the smaller species of dragons, as without Gringotts or Lokkaria (A bank which merged with Gringotts in 1468), there were few places for the smaller dragons to live.</p><p>Despite Binns' monotone drone, Harry found himself avidly involved in the facts, and didn't notice his surroundings until almost the end of class. The Gryffindors had been passing notes for most of the lesson (including one that got lost when Dean threw it a bit hard, and it went <em> through </em> Binns... who didn't even look up), but eventually Nott intercepted one, and with a smug look threw it at Harry's forehead with a laugh.</p><p>It was a picture of Harry taking notes, but writing them on Hermione's huge front teeth. There was a big love heart around them, and Hermione was jumping up and down trying to get attention. Harry screwed it up, rolling his eyes, but apparently not fast enough. Hermione, who was sitting opposite him in the isle, snatched it up from where Harry left it on the desk. Harry grabbed her arm with his fast reflexes and gave her a hard look.</p><p>"You don't need to see that." He tried. There were laughs echoing around the room. Apparently everyone had seen the paper.</p><p>"Let me go Potter!" Hermione hissed in a harsh whisper. She glanced at the front of the room, but Binns hadn't noticed that no one was even pretending to pay attention. With a huge tug, Hermione wrenched her arm free, and opened the note. Harry watched as she went very still, then bright red. She too scrunched up the note, but showing much more of her emotions for the whole class to see.</p><p>She was silent for a moment, her head down with her shoulder's hunched in, her curls blocking her face. Harry sat still in awkward silence as he flicked the paper into the air, burning it in the process. It was only a second later that Harry realized Hermione's shoulder's were shaking.</p><p>Oh no.</p><p>Oh no no <em>no.</em></p><p>Harry could handle anything you tried to throw at him, but crying girls??</p><p>He wanted to say something to comfort her, He felt rather bad for her, but bloody politics! Getting involved wouldn't really help the situation in the least. He saw from the corner of his eye as Hermione dashed from the classroom, tear drops falling onto the stone ground as she was followed by a bout of laughter. Harry kept an impassive expression as he watched her before turning back to the front of the class and blatantly ignoring everyone for the rest of the lesson. Only Malfoy and Rosier noticed the chilling green his eyes became.</p><p>Lunch was odd, as when he made his way into the great hall quite a few Slytherin's left spots open. This got a bit of attention from the rest of the school, as apparently rumor was going around that Slytherin had finally accepted Harrison Potter. There was quite a bit of rumor about exactly why that was too. It was mostly about Harry turning dark. Harry slid in between a student he didn't know and the Mulciber, a Slytherin fifth year, Quidditch Keeper. </p><p>The other Quidditch players were near by, and while they didn't mention anything obvious, Harry easily slid into their conversations. Though he was consciously making an effort to show he could be social, Harry didn't realize exactly how much he was impressing various authorities. Most of the staff were watching him like a hawk, and Dumbledore looked a tiny bit worried beneath his tight smile. Snape was outright glaring, and seemed to have given up on eating in favor of paying attention to Harry's movements. Weitts was watching him, and so most of her circle of followers were following suit, and Harry's easy ways were making an even bigger impression than the conversation from that morning. </p><p>The only indication Harry got that everyone was paying attention was when he slipped in a subtle taunt about Devlin Raabot's father. Harry knew from some gossip from the Bloody Baron that Raabot had been smuggling potions ingredients for over thirty years, starting early in his Hogwarts years. It was accepted by most of the darker families, but wasn't exactly common knowledge. </p><p>Harry had done it on instinct, as while the house were accepting him at the table, most of them weren't happy about it. Devlin had made a snide comment about mudbloods and people close to Harry ending up dead or in jail.</p><p>"Hmm. Possibly, I'll be sure to ask your father for some of his rarer specimens then. After all, wouldn't you prefer jail to death?" Harry then turned to return a comment an older student had asked about muggle cars. </p><p>Harry had been completely oblivious to the shock on many people's faces, well concealed or not; he was distracted by explaining about muggle things to the pureblood elite. Slytherin surprised him again by showing curiosity about muggles, even if it was only to find out what they were capable of. It wasn't until he was almost at the transfiguration room that he realised that he shouldn't have any idea about Raabot's father's potions smuggling. However, after some consideration he shrugged it off. Let them wonder about just who was his source; all the better if they had no way of ever finding it.</p><p>Malfoy and Rosier finally approached Harry at dinner when it was obvious that Harry wouldn't be the one to initiate conversation with them.</p><p>"You're not one to forgive easily, are you?" Rosier stated as he slid next to him. Malfoy sat across from him, later on joined by Parkinson and Zabini.</p><p>Harry shrugged ruefully. "I've been told once or twice." he responded, realizing how similar Rosier's words were to the sorting hat's.</p><p>"How are you, Harry dear?" Pansy asked softly, moving without warning to grab his hands. He reacted on instinct, snatching them away as he held them, playing it off as cracking his knuckles before putting them into his robe pockets. He was sure that none of them believed the play off.</p><p>"Why wouldn't I be in more than a perfectly stellar mood, Parkinson?" Harry asked mildly as he looked at his food. He was sure his use of formality hadn't gone missed.</p><p>"Harry-"</p><p>"Ah, so we're back to first name basis?" Harry cut off, looking at the four Slytherin's who, while he hadn't thought of as friends, at least allies, had more or less abandoned him.</p><p>Malfoy sighed. "Oh get over yourself Potter, we're here to apologize."</p><p>"Ah," Harry said, then smiled wryly, which made the four Slytherin's pause. Who <em>smiled</em> like that? "well, I accept your apology, Malfoy."</p><p>Draco and the rest of the group paused. It couldn't be this easy-</p><p>"But you have not earned my forgiveness." Harry smiled, "Show me your worth." </p><p>The four Slytherin's sat there in shocked silence. After all, they were the epitome of Slytherins. They had grown up in with Slytherin families and Slytherin friends, so why was it that they couldn't help but suppress a chill at the chill tone Harrison Potter, beacon of light, had spoken in. What exactly had just happened-</p><p>Quirrell burst through the doors that Harry lost his train of thought. The man yelled something about trolls in the dungeons before fainting, causing a huge uproar in the Great Hall. The prefects were lining up the students, making them head to their dormitories. It was only when Harry got up that he realized he still had Hermione's book bag. He swore at himself mentally, then quickly scanned the Gryffindor table.</p><p>Hermione was missing.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Dungeon Troll</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Harry cut backwards as the Hufflepuff's and Slytherin's crossed paths, then joined the Ravenclaws for a bit until he'd made it to the girls bathroom. It had taken him a little longer to shake the Slytherin's and all hope of getting to the troll before it reached the bathroom were cut out when a scream met him at the top of the stairs.</p><p>Harry paused for a moment as he thought on what he was about to do. He liked Hermione enough, but was she worth getting killed over? Harry shook his thoughts away, making the reckless decision to throw himself through the door into the girls bathroom. Hermione was huddled under a sink tears streaming down her face to scared to move.</p><p>"MOVE!" He yelled, trying to get Granger to edge towards the door, but while she obviously registered that he was there, she was giving a blank frightened look and not moving.</p><p>"<em>Stupify! Contusio! Hebesde!</em> Granger MOVE NOW!"</p><p>She finally seemed to come back to earth and began sliding along the wall closer to the door. Harry cast another <em>hebese</em> at the opposite wall, causing the troll to look at it in confusion, then bash it for good measure. Unfortunately at that moment Hermione slipped on a loose tile and went crashing to the ground, catching her forehead on the sink. The troll turned and raised its club. With a strong sense of blood thirst Harry raised his wand again. He was sure his eyes were glowing like they always did when he cast spell's that weren't inherently Light.</p><p>"<strong><em>Reducto.</em></strong>" Harry spoke, realizing he had slipped into parseltongue as he watched the spell hit the head of the troll and explode, goo and blood flying everywhere, spluttering across the walls and all over both Harry and an unconscious Hermione. Harry straightened up as he used his hand for his next spell.</p><p>"<em>Wingardium Leviosa</em>"</p><p>Hermione's unconscious body floated towards him, and Harry knelt down so her head could rest on his knees as he healed most of her cuts and wounds. He held her with a careful grasp as she shifted slightly.</p><p>"Urm, what happened. . .?" Hermione asked groggily as Harry healed a cut on her arm. </p><p>"Shh, nothing happened, Granger." Harry said, not exactly knowing what to do as Hermione's eyes faltered shut. He had just killed some<em>one?thing? </em>Harry quickly started to examine Hermione's head.</p><p>Not a moment too soon either, as four teachers came rushing in to see what the noise was. Professor Quirrell gave a strong whimper, before sitting down on the nearest toilet seat clutching his heart. Harry gave him a brief speculative look, but it was gone before anyone could really catch it. Snape stepped over the broken door to examine the troll.</p><p>"It's dead." Harry supplied, even though the fact that the troll was decapitated should have said enough.</p><p>He eyed the body witheringly before looking back at the teachers ."I think Hermione has concussion." He offered. Snape and Flitwick turned and opened their mouth, but McGonagall got there first.</p><p>"What on earth were you thinking of? You could have been killed!" Harry smiled a little at McGonagall's tone, though from the withering look she tossed him he knew this was no smiling matter.</p><p>"Are both of you okay?" Flitwick addressed Harry.</p><p>"Hermione hit her head pretty hard on the sink just before I got the troll." Quirrell let out another whimper. Harry turned to him with a blank face.</p><p>"Exactly how, may I inquire, did an incompetent first year, supposedly manage to kill off a fully grown mountain troll?" Harry had the extreme urge to say something like 'Pure talent' but refrained. He purposely kept his voice completely flat of any emotion.</p><p>"I simply used a <em>reducto</em> charm to deprive it of it's head." All four teachers turned to gape at him.</p><p>"What? It was going to kill her." Harry gestured to Hermione. "I really think she needs the hospital wing, she came down pretty hard."</p><p>"Very well, perhaps Flitwick will help Miss Granger to the hospital." McGonagall suggested. Flitwick seemed reluctant to leave, but eventually his care for Hermione won out.</p><p>"Come along Miss Granger." Harry helped her to stand, then Flitwick let her lean heavily on her shoulder.</p><p>"Oh, I don't feel so good."</p><p>They left, and Harry was left standing at the head of the troll looking blankly down at it. He felt rather bad for killing it really. It wasn't it's fault it had been brought to the school.</p><p>"Why aren't you in your dormitory?" McGonagall demanded, just cutting of Snape again, which made him look mutinous.</p><p>"There was a rather horrid note passed around history today about Hermione, and then on my way to the feast I heard that Weasley had said something awful to her just after Charms, and that she was up here crying her eyes out. She didn't know about the troll, and all the teachers disappeared before I could get o them. I expected it to be in the dungeons, where, by the way, <em> you </em> sent all the Slytherins." Harry glared up at the teachers for a moment, and was surprised to see Snape openly look annoyed.</p><p>"I came up to tell her about the troll after I saw none of the Gryffindors were going to. I wasn't expecting it, but by the time I made this corridor it was already in here with her and she was screaming." Harry gave a light shrug. "I didn't have time to think, I just did everything I could to stop it from paying attention to her. I was throwing things at the wall so she could sneak past, but she slipped on a tile and it heard her. It was swinging down to hit her when I decided to throw a blasting curse. I didn't mean to kill it, but it was it or her."</p><p>Dead silence rained for a moment as they absorbed that, then McGonagall exploded.</p><p>"Fifty points from Slytherin for disobeying school rules that could have had you killed." Harry's jaw dropped and he stared at her in shock. Snape spun on McGonagall and started to berate her, however Harry had had enough.</p><p>"Fine then." His voice was harsh and cold, and echoed around the room, making Snape pause, much to his shock.</p><p>"You saved a students life Mr. Potter, you do not deserve points taken." Snape said venomously looking at McGonagall, who did look just the tiniest bit sheepish under his glare.</p><p>"No." Harry spoke in the same voice. "She can keep her damn punishment. When have I <em> ever </em> been given fair treatment since I was sorted into Slytherin." Harry addressed Snape, then turned to face McGonagall with a cold face. "I'd had to earn every damn bit of respect to be treated as bloody human being! I'll take the cut with pleasure professor. I'm quite sure I deserve it, slimy snake that I am." His voice oozed sarcasm, and Harry spun and left the three teachers before he could have more points taken for disrespecting a teacher.</p><p>Harry stormed all the way back to the Slytherin dorm, where he discovered the password wouldn't work. Harry growled, but glanced around to see no one was there, before hissing a commanding "<em><strong>OPEN!</strong>"</em> in parseltongue and storming into the room.</p><p>He hadn't expected the entire house to be in the common room, having forgotten about the feast.</p><p>"Where have you been?" A male voice yelled into the dead silence that filled the room on his arrival.</p><p>"And why are you covered in blood!?" Someone else yelled.</p><p>Harry looked at them blankly, before noticing there was blood running down his arm where a stray flying tile had hit him. He looked blankly back up at the whole house, who were eyeing him in shock.</p><p>"I just lost Slytherin fifty points because the troll was attacking a girl and I saved her life." He was met wit silence again. </p><p>"It's dead." He added, then swept up into the dorm to find a mirror and fix his arm.</p><p>Sound exploded behind him, but he ignored it all. He made his way across to his bed, stripping off his robe to better inspect his wounds.</p><p>Harry heard footsteps along the corridor, and pulled his shirt sleeve up while making his way to the bathroom. By the time the boys all arrived he was examining a bruise on his back.</p><p>"Are you alright?" Draco demanded. Always one to cut right to the chase.</p><p>Harry shrugged. "I've been worse. I'd be better if I could do something about my arm. I'm not going to Pomfrey."</p><p>"I'll get Mathews. He's training to be a healer." Evan said, disappearing back out the door.</p><p>"Aren't you all mad I lost us fifty points?" Harry said, running cold water to wash the blood off his arm. There was a surprising amount of it.</p><p>"No. They are pissed off about the points, but not at you. Snape followed you in quite closely. He was livid." Draco supplied. "Your bleeding a bit above your eye too."</p><p>Harry looked into the mirror and swore."Bloody fuck, that was close." The cut was quite deep, and close to his eye. It wasn't bleeding nearly as much as he thought it should, so he leaned in and had is suspicions confirmed.</p><p>"Urgh! Had anyone got tweezers?"</p><p>"And why would you be needing those, Mr. Potter?" Snape's voice answered. Harry managed not to jump, and turned to face him.</p><p>"Because there is a giant bit of glass stuck in my forehead." Harry said blankly, then looked up at the professor. "Could you please remove it for me sir?" Snape looked shocked at the polite tone for a second, but quickly crossed the room and held Harry's head under more direct light. He conjured a pair of tweezers from thin air, then tucked his wand away.</p><p>"Hold still." Harry tried not to be annoyed, as he had been perfectly still from the moment Snape had his wand anywhere near his head.</p><p>"Do you regularly find yourself in these sorts of situations Potter?"</p><p>"I have always had terrible luck on Halloween." Harry said dully. It was true, that had never gone away. He only knew Snape had reacted because of a slight tightening of his grip. </p><p>"I mean, every year, not just the night... I got hit by a bus last year, dislocated my shoulder and broke my arm." He offered. He didn't bother to mention that Dudley had pushed him, nor that it was Vernon driving, and he hadn't slowed down. It was one of the few times they had actually taken him to the hospital, although it was three days later after Harry dropped a plate because his arm wouldn't support it.</p><p>"Why aren't you in Gryffindor?" Snape demanded, simultaneously pulling out the glass and letting go of Harry's head. Harry immediately moved to the sink to wash out the cut before grabbing a clean wash cloth to cover it.</p><p>"Because I'm more suited to Slytherin." Harry said simply. He let took a bandage Snape had brought off the bench and expertly wrapped his arm and tied it off. He gave Snape a speculative look once he was done. "What happened about the points?" </p><p>"Professor McGonagall tried to take it back, but Quirrell supported your choice. I'd like to know how you got him on side." Harry felt his skin crawl again. What <em>had</em> he done?</p><p>
  <span>Snape acknowledged that he wasn't going to get an answer. "You have detention with me this Thursday, for being reckless. I have informed the house as a whole why you received the point loss."</span>
</p><p>"Thank you professor." Harry didn't say for what, but Snape nodded and then left.</p><p>Harry made his way over to his bed and carefully picked up his bloody robes and placed them in his hamper, making sure to make as little noise as possible. He placed his shoes down on the floor, then turned to get his pajamas, only to find the rest of the boys staring at him expectantly.</p><p>"Explain." Said Malfoy finally.</p><p>"Erm..."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It was much later that Harry actually managed to get to bed, he was surprised to find that his gryffindor-ish behavior had somehow managed to earn him respect in the house of snakes. Something he wasn't expecting at all. The girls from his year, who he had barely dealt with at all so far turned up at their door with a flimsy excuse about questions about homework, before they settled in to demand gossip on what had happened. Harry told them what he'd told the teachers, leaving out all the extra magic, even though he knew the Slytherin's would only approve.</p><p>It had been really nice, as their discussion turned into just hanging out, and for the first time Harry actually felt included in the house.</p>
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